Side drum, 2nd Battalion Royal Munster Fusiliers, dated 1898

Brass, made by Henry Potter and Company, 30 Charing Cross, London, 1898; repainted by George Potter and Company, Aldershot, 1920 (c).

The Royal Munster Fusiliers was established during the 1881 Army reforms by merging two former East India Company fusilier regiments, the 101st Regiment of Foot and the 104th Regiment of Foot, each of which formed one of the new unit's two regular battalions.

This drum was made before the Regiment served in the Boer War (1899-1902), after which battle honours were added for that campaign. Other battle honours subsequently added were those awarded for service during World War One (1914-1918). This included service on the Western Front, Gallipoli and the Middle East. The tiger on the grenade relates to the Indian origins of the regiment as the 1st Bengal European Regiment of the East India Company's army.

The Regiment was disbanded in 1922 on the creation of the Irish Free State.