Untold The Museum

28/08/2026

We present another set of five unidentified photographs from our collection, as part of our ongoing FAMILIAR FACES project! This week's photographs depict individuals who served in the infantry, artillery, and Royal Navy.​

If you think that you might recognise any of the individuals shown in these photographs, please let us know in the comments or at [email protected] (quoting the photo reference number).​

Keep an eye on our social media as we will be back in a fortnight's time with five more photographs!

27/08/2026

Sergeant Paddy Longdog.

This exceptionally long bodied terrier belonged to The Royal Ulster Rifles.

Paddy was found in Cyprus in 1958, and won a General Service Medal for helping track enemy forces.

He was officially described as a 'low-slung, disproportionately long dog with an equally lengthy tail.'

Harsh. He looks perfect to us! 🐾

22/08/2026

We have our very first podcast! 🎙

Join researcher Dr Hannah West, archivist Elizabeth Cutmore Anglia Ruskin University, military historian Ashleigh Percival-Borley and our own Dr Laura, as they reflect on their latest project &Families UNTOLD: The story of the Irish in the British Army.

Over the last year, thanks to funding from the Veterans' Foundation, Hannah and Elizabeth have been working with the team at UNTOLD to uncover some of the hidden stories of women buried in the collections. We can confirm they disappeared down some very deep rabbit holes, but, importantly, they discovered some fascinating stories...blogs to follow so keep your eyes peeled 👀

The archive diving was followed by some incredibly insightful workshops with nurses, female veterans, mothers, and daughters. These workshops helped shape a new Toolkit to help other museums interrogate their collections and uncover their own hidden stories. Importantly, the conversations have also shaped how we design our new galleries and programming.

Next step will see the Toolkit piloted and tested with a wider group of museums, so watch this space!

You can listen to the Podcast here:

Our Very First Podcast! Home About Us News Our Very First Podcast! We have our very first podcast! Join researcher Dr Hannah West, archivist Elizabeth Cutmore Anglia Ruskin University, military historian Ashleigh Percival-Borley and our own Dr Laura, as they reflect on their latest project &Fa...

20/08/2026

Look at this flag, sent from Ruaudin, France, in 1940.

We can see signatures from the Royal Ulster Rifles, the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, the Royal Irish Fusiliers, and the King's Own Scottish Borderers.

One signature has caught our attention in particular. Alongside his name, Dickson added 'Comber For Ever'.

We're busy researching the names on the flag and would love your help. Do you recognise any of them?

Let us know in the comments or email us at [email protected]

Royal Irish Fusiliers Museum

18/08/2026

MYSTERY SOLVED! 🏆 🥊

We are delighted to share with you that we have discovered the identity of one of the soldiers featured in our Familiar Faces project ( #006, 31st July), and that the athlete pictured here is none other than Sergeant Major Henry John Hartnett.

At the time the photograph was taken, Hartnett was a Lance Corporal with the 2nd Battalion Royal Ulster Rifles. A talented boxer, he had just been crowned Army Champion at the Army Individual Championships. In its May 1937 edition, "Quis Separabit", the regimental journal of the RUR, reported: “He had four hard fights, and never looked like losing any of them…. He won a grand fight in the final.”

Hartnett served in Palestine with the RUR, and was awarded the Military Medal for his actions in Germany during the Second World War. He also served with the 1st Battalion Herefordshire Regiment and the 4th Battalion Kings Shropshire Light Infantry, and attained the rank of Sergeant Major before his retirement in 1956.

The mystery was solved in an unexpected way, as we happened upon a copy of the photograph in "Quis Separabit" while undertaking research on another soldier. We hope to solve a few more mysteries over the course of the project, so keep an eye on our social media and please do get in touch if you recognise any of the featured soldiers, either in the comments or by emailing us at [email protected].

Sources:

Belfast News Letter, 15 November 1984
National Archives, WO 373/54/639
Quis Separabit, May 1937
Wellington Journal, 29 March 1947

Findmypast The National Archives

14/08/2026

It's Friday again and time for another set of Familiar Faces!​

These photographs from our collection have yet to be identified, and we are keen to learn more about these individuals and their experiences!​

As usual, if you can identify anyone shown in these photographs, please let us know in the comments or at [email protected] (quoting the photo reference number).

07/08/2026

Yesterday, we took a well earned break and popped over to St Anne's Cathedral to see the newly installed London Irish Rifles War Memorial.

It is wonderful to have the memorial in Belfast and congratulations to The London Irish Rifles (D Coy) Association for moving such a beautiful and significant piece. Well done Ant and Angela, that was not an easy task!

The collection of The London Irish Rifles Museum has also been moved to Belfast and is now under the custodianship of UNTOLD: The Collections & Archives. The LIR story will continue to be told in our new museum UNTOLD Stories of the Irish in the British Army.

QS & FAB ☘

06/08/2026

Throwback to last month when we welcomed Eleanor back to The Royal Ulster Rifles galleries.
Eleanor's father's medals were previously donated to the Collection in 1968 by her mother, and she was delighted to know that the museum was still looking after them and that they were in fact, on display.

Her dad, Sergeant William John Sharkey DCM was born in Lisburn, Co Antrim, 26 December 1910, the son of William John and Mary Ellen Sharkey. The 1911 Census shows the family at 17 Market Lane, Lisburn, records their religion as Roman Catholic, William as a damask weaver, and children in the house noted as William, James, Margaret Mary, Anne, Robert, Patrick and Andrew.

William enlisted in the Regular Army on 10 January 1929 and joined The Royal Ulster Rifles. On 5 September he transferred to the Army Reserve and went on to marry Mary McLaughlin at Glenboig, Scotland on 3 November 1938. Shortly after he re-joined the RUR at Coatbridge, Scotland, before assuming the post of Mess Sergeant at the Armagh Depot in 1940.

During the Second World War, William took part in the D-Day, landing on Sword Beach, 6 June 1944. Just over a month later, during the advance on 19 July 1944, 'Sergeant Sharkey moved forward and with what can only be described as 'dash and elan' assaulted the machine-gun position, spraying it with rounds from his Sten gun. For once the weapon did not fail and in a few seconds the crew had been killed. This provide too much for the other enemy in the vicinity and they promptly withdrew'. At that time he was Acting Colour-Sergeant.

William was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for his actions, posted in the London Gazette on 21 December 1944. He received his DCM ribbon from Field Marshal Montgomery.

He was later promoted to Company Quartermaster-Sergeant, and his service record includes Egypt, 125 days, Palestine, 339 days, Egypt, 341 days, Palestine, 60 days, and North-West Europe 128 days.

During the visit, Curator Gavin Glass presented Eleanor with a picture of her father.

31/07/2026

On this day, 31st July, in 2007

The Royal Irish Rangers (RANGERS) was retitled as the 2nd Battalion The Royal Irish Regiment (2 R IRISH); RANGERS was the last battalion to carry forward the antecedent title of The Royal Irish Rangers.

‘Ranger’ was therefore lost from the regimental title of The Royal Irish Regiment but was retained as the appointment to describe the private soldier, and thus the name lives on as it is the distinction given to every soldier who passes out of infantry training and joins the battalion as a Ranger.

Indeed, our Regiment has always taken great pride in rarely using only a soldier’s surname, preferring instead to precede all surnames with – ‘Ranger'.

31/07/2026

FAMILIAR FACES, PART TWO.

Can you help us with these unidentified photographs from our collection? We hope that you might recognise some familiar faces from your own family or community, and help us to discover more about these soldiers.

If you can help us identify any of the individuals in these photographs, let us know in the comments or get in touch by emailing [email protected] and quoting the photograph reference number.

Keep an eye on our social media as we will post more photographs in a fortnight's time!