Lance Corporal John Doloughan

 

John Doloughan was born on 21 March 1878 at Dunmurry, Drumbeg, County Antrim, the eighth of eleven children of carter John Doloughan and his wife Eliza Jane (née Carlisle). Soon after, the family moved to Belfast, living at 33 Scotch Row, where his mother died when John was just six years old.

Doloughan enlisted in the Imperial Yeomanry around 1900 (No.30957), serving in South Africa in the 61st (2nd Dublin) Company, 17th Battalion, during the Boer War.

By 1906 he was living at 32 Pitt Street, Belfast, and working as a labourer. He married Elizabeth Allen on 19 May that year in the Belmont Presbyterian Church, Holywood, County Down. The couple had five children over the next twelve years. At the time of the 1911 Census the family was living at 1 Finmore Street, Belfast, John working as a grocer.

Doloughan enlisted in the Royal Irish Rifles (No.141) at Belfast on 5 October 1914. He gave his age as 32 (four years less than his true age), his occupation as a labourer, and stated that he had previously served in the Imperial Yeomanry and the Royal Irish Rifles. Posted to the 10th Battalion, he was discharged nine days later due to an old injury to his left wrist. ('Recruit within three months of enlistment considered unfit for service', paragraph 392 (iii)(c) King's Regulations.)

Undeterred, on 23 November Doloughan enlisted again, this time in the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons Service Squadron (No. UD/187 – later Corps of Dragoons No.21255). On 6 October 1915 he embarked for France with his squadron, which was then serving as divisional cavalry to the 36th (Ulster) Division.

At some point prior to mid-1917 Doloughan returned to the UK, perhaps as a result of his age or the old injury. There he was posted to the Inniskilling Service Squadron's reserve camp at Enniskillen. He remained there until the end of the war.

On 22 June 1919 he was discharged, being 'surplus to military requirements, having suffered impairment since entry into the service' (paragraph 392 (xvi)(a), King's Regulations).

Following his discharged Doloughan returned to Belfast. The directories of 1924 and 1932 show him living at 1 Finmore Street and working as a labourer, then a confectioner. In 1939, 1943 and 1951 he was living at 31 Thistle Street, working as a grocer, then a labourer. He died at Thistle Street on 9 April 1953 and was buried in the Dundonald Cemetery.

 

Doloughan's brother James also served in the military – in the Royal Navy from 1901 to 1913, and in the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers (No.24785) during the war. He saw action in the Boxer Rebellion in China, and during the rebellion in Ireland in 1916, He was killed in action in Palestine on 27 December 1917. (See articles below.)

 

The Millom Gazette, 9 June 1916

 

The Millom Gazette, 1 March 1918

 

The Millom Gazette, 15 March 1918

 

This page last updated 24 June 2023.