Lecture and Dublin visit during Somme tribute

Lecture and Dublin visit during Somme tribute

13 July 2016

TRIBUTE has been paid in Dublin to the men from Killyleagh and Shrigley who paid the ultimate price in the Great War.

Days after marking the 100th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme, a bus load of locals travelled to Dublin on Friday to visit the Islandbridge War Memorial grounds.

Mr Austin Cheevers laid a wreath at Islandbridge in memory of the Killyleagh men who served at the Somme. He was escorted by Mrs Ann Fee, of the Sloane’s history group, Mr Billy Croskery, the chairman of Killyleagh RBL and 92 year-old Mr Andy Andrews, the RBL president.

The group visited the war memorial grounds and book rooms, following in the footsteps of the Queen who visited during her historic visit to the Republic in 2011. They also saw the original Irish Cross which was carved by Pioneer soldiers from the 16th Irish Regiment on Flanders fields. It was on display for the following day’s national commemoration event at Islandbridge.

The visit was supported under Newry, Mourne and Down Council’s Decade of Centenaries programme and Rowallane councillors who took part were Billy Walker, Harry Harvey and Terry Andrews.

The tour also included other key sites from 1916 — the Royal Hospital at Kilmainham, Kilmainham gaol, the GPO and the memorial gardens at Kildare Street.

The programme of events will be rounded off with a free bus trip to the Somme Heritage Centre, between Newtownards and Bangor, for a guided tour on Thursday, August 4. The bus leaves Killyleagh at 11am. Anyone interested in going is asked to contact Mrs Ann Fee. Miss Zena McAllister, Mr Chris Hagan or Mr Austin Cheevers. The bus is free but people are asked to pay their own admission to the heritage centre.

Also during the past week, the Killyleagh Remembers the Great War project hosted a lecture by the leading Irish historian Dr Eamon Phoenix in St Mary’s Hall.

He was welcomed to Killyleagh by Miss Zena McAllister and a question time was chaired by the Parish Priest of St Mary’s, Fr Eugene O’Neill.

During his talk, Dr Phoenix recounted details from his forthcoming book in which an east Belfast Protestant recounted his eye-witness account of the Easter Rising. 

The man, who had arrived in Dublin to sign up for the British Army in the Great War, ended up marooned at the Gresham Hotel as the events developed during Easter week across the street at the GPO.