Following the establishment of the Irish Free State on 6 December 1922 General Routine Orders were issued which laid down the organisation of the first centralised Defence Forces.

The Corps has a wide variety of roles, covering conventional warfare, and training for the Defence Forces.

This support includes anything from the provision of: The Corps have seen active service in UNMIK), Somalia (UNOSOM II), Congo (ONUC), Lebanon (UNIFIL), Liberia (UNMIL) & Chad (EUFOR Tchad/RCA) - where the Engineer Corps was deployed to construct Camp Ciara in advance of a contingent of more than 500 troops.

Army engineers were deployed alongside personnel from the Naval Service and NSR in early 2020 as part of Ireland's response to the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19).

[2][3] As in all aspects of society, legislative changes and technological advances have required workforces to become more specialised and more highly skilled.