Few employers were willing to release men for this period and most had to sacrifice holiday time to attend. Shortly after its inception, the FCA introduced an annual summer training camp of two weeksвЂ™ duration. These were issued every three years, the same uniform being used for both tactical training and for parades.Д¬aptain (later Commandant) Joseph Briscoe (in uniform)-of the famous Dublin Jewish/Fianna FГЎil family, with brother Ben (left) and father Robert (centre)-joined the FCA in 1946 and retired 50 years later, making him its longest-serving member. The uniform was the same coarse вЂbullswoolвЂ™ pattern issued to the regular army, including sturdy hobnailed boots and a popular heavy greatcoat. In Meath public apathy towards the FCA bordered on hostility, with Navan (population over 4,000) boasting an FCA membership of less than ten.Д®ach FCA man was issued with a bolt-action Lee-Enfield rifle (in rural units it was standard practice to keep the rifle at home, as with many other European reserve forces). Of the 400 men of the Abbeyleix Battalion, it was estimated that a third had no building for training, although one unit obtained a bank loan to buy themselves a Nissen hut.

Thereafter some FCA units were obliged to meet at rain-soaked crossroads and roadsides. Range practice (in 1963) with the bolt-action Lee-Enfield rifle-the standard FCA weapon for most of its existence.Дuring the Emergency, grateful local communities had provided the LDF with schools and community halls in which to train-facilities withdrawn in many cases after 1945. The actual strength of the FCA at its inception was 37,323, the highest point for the force, from which it would continually decline. FCA battalions were commanded entirely by FCA officers, with some military expertise provided by Old IRA andLDF veterans. Thiswould mainly consist of 99 infantry battalions, three artillery regiments and smaller support units such as engineering and signals. Given the LDFвЂ™s success, an FCA establishment of 60,000 was not thought unrealistic. Problems soon manifested themselves that would plague the FCA throughout its existence, primarily the вЂestablishmentвЂ™ strength against actual strength. The 26th Battalion eventually numbered 1,000, some 90 of whom stayed on after its transfer to the FCA, with the balance made up of veteransвЂ™ sons. The Pearse Battalion, drawn from DublinвЂ™s universities, had originated as the Regiment of Pearse of the Volunteer Force in 1935, while the 26th Battalion was originally a unit of the armyвЂ™s second-line reserve, raised in 1940, from 1916вЂ“21 veterans. Not all FCA battalions originated with the LDF. Recruits swore an oath of allegiance and officers received the presidentвЂ™s commission. Although there was some continuity with the old LDF (the urban battalions were retained, for example), the FCA was part of the Defence Forces proper, using the same ranks and unit structures. Although the LDF existed under an ambiguous вЂsemi-militaryвЂ™ status, particularly regarding ranks, battalions were organised in cities, for example the 47th and 48th Battalions in Cork, and a few specialist units were also established. The LDF had been formed in 1941 as a part-time force to support the Permanent Defence Force (PDF), the regular army and air corps, and in 1943 numbered over 100,000. The Forsa Cosanta Aitiuil came into being on 6 February 1946 with the demise of its predecessor, the Local Defence Force (LDF). The front cover of a special issue (October 1984) of An Cosantoir, the Irish defence journal, dedicated to the FCA.

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