Historical Visits

The Great War still holds a fascination all of its own for countless millions. Ireland, with its strong traditions of folk and family memories, has particular reasons for remembering the co-incidence of the Great War with the Easter Rising and struggle for independence, and the subsequent Treaty and Partition of Ireland. It is estimated that 50,000 men from the Island of Ireland died fighting for the freedom of small nations in all the theatres of war from 1914-1918. Many were honoured, many were reviled, but all were remembered.

Since the official opening of the Messines Round Tower and Peace Park, and the substantial progress of the Northern Ireland Peace Process, the amount of interest being expressed by Irish people in the First World War has been quite overwhelming.

It is as if a dam-burst of silent concern and affection has been freed at last. Many people from Unionist and Nationalist backgrounds, who for whatever reason had previously rejected, suppressed, or never expressed personal interest in the subject, now have a deep longing to trace family involvement. Individual families, organisations and schools all organise visits to the battlefields, particularly in France and Flanders. Many organisations have come together to provide a primary reference service for families wishing to trace relatives' involvement in the great tragedy known as the Great War. In the Round Tower at Messines there is a list of all the men from the Island of Ireland who died in all the different theatres. John Condon was the youngest boy solider to die in the Great War. He was killed one week before his 14th birthday, in May 1915, as a result of a German gas attack on Mousetrap Farm in the Poelkapelle and Langemark area of Flanders. His body was only recovered in 1923, when he was identified by his solider number on his boot. The portion of the boot is now in the possession of his family in Waterford. He is buried in Poelkapelle Military Cemetery and his is the most visited grave on the Western Front.

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