[4][5] Located in a prominent position on the hills overlooking Cork city and the River Lee, the complex was initially known simply as The Barracks.

[6] In the period following the Easter Rising (1916), the Irish nationalist Thomas Kent was executed by firing squad at the barracks.

[7] During the Irish War of Independence (1919-1921), Auxiliary forces based at the barracks were implicated in events surrounding the Burning of Cork.

[12][13] Following the War of Independence, under the terms of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, and after housing British forces in the city for more than one hundred years, the barracks complex was handed over to Commandant Sean Murray of the army of the Irish Free State in 1922.

[15] The barracks now houses the headquarters of 1 Southern Brigade,[2] with permanent and reserve elements of several army corps, including artillery, cavalry, communications, engineering and logistics units.