{"id":15084,"date":"2017-12-28T10:23:21","date_gmt":"2017-12-28T10:23:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thetimechamber.co.uk\/beta\/?page_id=15084"},"modified":"2019-06-14T19:41:53","modified_gmt":"2019-06-14T19:41:53","slug":"st-patricks-barracks-ballymena-northern-ireland","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.thetimechamber.co.uk\/beta\/sites\/military\/uk-sites\/st-patricks-barracks-ballymena-northern-ireland","title":{"rendered":"St Patricks Barracks, Ballymena, Northern Ireland"},"content":{"rendered":"

St Patricks Barracks is a large army base in Northern Ireland, that first opened in 1937 as a depot for the Royal Ulster Rifles, during WW2 it was used by the Americans as a barracks and it reverted back to its original role as a depot of the Royal Ulster Rifles after the war. In 1964 it became the main regional infantry training centre for the North Irish Brigade, and in 1968 became the home of the Royal Irish Rangers. In 1992 the Royal Irish Regiment was formed and based there.<\/p>\n

Due to the improvement in the Northern Ireland security situation the base was closed in 2008, with the Korean War Memorial sited there moved to Ballymena town hall, In 2012 the base war formally handed over to the Northern Ireland Executive, and the plan is to rejuvenate the site and provide houses, leisure, sports and community facilities.<\/p>\n