WW II – Pre-War Irish Free State – M1927 IRISH ARMY COMBAT HELMET – VERY RARE!

You are bidding on an EXTREMELY RARE example of a 100% ORIGINAL Pre-WW2 Irish Free State M1927 Irish Republican Army Combat Helmet!

In the Irish General Election of 1918 Sinn Fein won the majority of the electoral seats and proclaimed a self-constituted Irish parliament in Dublin which immediately declared Ireland an independent republic. This resulted in a guerilla style civil war with the Sinn Fein allied with the fledgling Irish Republic Army battling against the Royal Irish Constabulary and the volunteer British Blacks & Tans.

In December 1921 a short-lived truce settlement was reached which designated Ireland as a Dominion under control of the British Empire and effectively partitioned the country into the southern Irish Free State with northern Ireland remaining as a part of the United Kingdom. This was unacceptable to the proponents of an independent Ireland and the civil war only intensified. In 1923 another treaty was signed, and an uneasy peace was achieved although the conflict would remain smoldering for decades. 

In 1926 the Irish Free State decided to outfit its soldiers with steel helmets. The British helmets were deemed unsuitable due to Irish resentment, so the Irish approached the German consulate in an attempt to purchase surplus WWI German helmets.  Due to restrictions placed on Germany by the Treaty of Versailles, the Germans were not permitted to sell any military hardware including helmets. For a short period of time the Irish experimented with the French Adrian style helmets but found them unacceptable. As a result, in 1927, the Irish contracted the Vickers forgery in England to produce a helmet in the style of the German M16 helmet. The helmet was almost identical to the German M16 with the main difference being the addition of washers to each of the three liner retaining rivets and the addition of two small, riveted metal loops to the helmet front for the inclusion of the modified M1924 pattern Officer’s identifying badge.

Used between 1927 and 1939, 10,021 were produced by Vickers Ltd. to supply the 10,000-man army.  While in army service it was painted a very dark green. After the outbreak of WW2 (when the helmet was replaced by the British MKII), the remaining M1927 helmets were painted white and pressed into civil defense service.

Very few remain today, as most were steam rolled over and used as land fill in order to make new barracks.
 

Made of a lightweight stamped steel by Vickers Ltd., this M1927 Combat Helmet is in EXCELLENT used condition! Some marks, dents, and wear throughout, but still retains 90% of the original paint and finish! Markings are legible, indicating the Vickers Manufacture Stamp and Serial Number. Liner is still 100% intact, and , features a prominent manufacture stamp, indicating, “T. Smith and Son, Dublin. 1927″, along with a capital “S” (indicating a Small size).  Chin strap is present, and though worn and a bit dry, still remains intact! One of the aluminum fitting has a repair (see photo), but this could be replaced, if one wished. I have only owned ONE other example of this helmet (the more common WHITE version), making this original grey color EXCEEDINGLY RARE! Apart from the repair, this is a completely untouched example, it would a PERFECT item for any collection or display!