A 70-year history of army camp

A 70-year history of army camp

5 December 2012

A FASCINATING book charting 70 years of Ballykinler Army Camp has been launched to coincide with a major new exhibition which delves into political turmoil in County Down in the opening decades or the 20th century.

Ballykinler began its life as a training camp at the start of the Boer War and would play an important part in preparing soldiers to fight in two world wars.

But the camp also played its part conflicts much closer to home. During the early 1920s, when Ireland was in open revolt, Ballykinler achieved dubious fame as an interment camp for Irish Republicans, among whose number was Sean Lemass, the future Irish Taoiseach.

All of this and more is told in Ballykinler Camp, The First Seven Decades, 1900-69, written by Philip Orr and published by the Down County Museum to accompany its new exhibition which opened last week.

The exhibition’s theme is politics and protest in County Down from 1900 to the 1920s and it examines how Down was transformed by the controversies and conflict which embroiled Ireland and Europe in the early 20th century.

It was a time when whole communities were split along sectarian lines and the terms nationalist and unionist came into usage. The exhibition covers all great issues, such as the Home Rule crisis, the formation of the Ulster Volunteer Force and the Irish Volunteers, World War 1, the Easter Rising, the Irish War of Independence and the subsequent partition of Ireland.

A range of objects from the museum’s collection is on show, including banners, uniforms, postcards, photographs and historical documents.

The exhibition is open until May 2013 and admission is free. Special tours are available for groups and schools.