The Royal Hibernian Military School was founded in Dublin, Ireland, to educate orphaned children of members of the British armed forces in Ireland. In 1922 the Royal Hibernian Military School moved to Shorncliffe, in Folkestone, Kent, and in 1924 it was merged with the Duke of York's Royal Military School.
The school acted as a feeder to the British Army, where In the mid-19th century, children as young as 12 could enlist in the Army but generally enlistment began at 14. By the 1900s 50 per cent of pupils were going straight into the army.