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If you happen to be walking past Anderson & McAuley's former premises at 1, Donegall Place, Belfast, you shall see a metal plaque which records the fact that, on the 28th June, 1701, ARTHUR, 3RD EARL OF DONEGALL (1666-1706), formed the 35th Regiment of Foot, which became part of the Royal Sussex Regiment.
Lord Donegall was 35 years of age when this occurred, and was killed in action merely five years later, at Fort Montjuich, near Barcelona, Spain.
The encampment of first recruits was within the precincts of the Jacobean BELFAST CASTLE (accidentally burned to the ground seven years later, in 1708).
Lord Donegall was 35 years of age when this occurred, and was killed in action merely five years later, at Fort Montjuich, near Barcelona, Spain.
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| Possible portrait of Arthur, 3rd Earl of Donegall (Image: Ulster Museum) |
The encampment of first recruits was within the precincts of the Jacobean BELFAST CASTLE (accidentally burned to the ground seven years later, in 1708).
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This little known association, to many on both sides of the Irish Sea, is further strengthened by the fact that the first recruits in Belfast, without uniforms as yet, wore 'orange lillies' in their hats and thus bestowed that nickname on the regiment and its successors right up to the mid-twentieth century regimental amalgamations. Furthermore, King William bestowed on the 35th of Foot the right to wear orange facings on their coats and to this very day the regimental colours are orange and blue (the latter succeeding the orange at the command of William IV). Another strange and entirely coincidental association was that the city of Chichester became the regiments home barracks!
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