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A GROUP COLLATING the names of thousands of Irish World War I veterans will hold a memorial service next weekend to remember all those who survived the war.
The Ireland’s World War 1 Veterans project is run by volunteers and aims to gather the names of all those who fought in and survived the Great War.
The database currently contains almost 31,000 names of Irish men and women who fought in World War I from a range of backgrounds.
The group hopes to ultimately erect a memorial in both Dublin and Belfast to list the names of these veterans.
Project founder Sabina Purcell told TheJournal.ie that she has been amazed with how the All-Ireland project has progressed since it was started last week.
“I thought it would be good to reach 500 names, but it has grown so much,” she said.
“A lot of people are eager to get in touch and share their stories. What usually happens is one person emails with details of several of their relatives who fought in the war.”
“We don’t question the reasons why they joined,” Purcell said.
It could be because they needed a source of income, it could have been for the adventure, it could because they simply believed in democracy.
While many found it difficult to find employment when returning from World War I, some found work with companies like Guinness, the postal service, and Dublin Corporation.
“Unfortunately, some of them were vilified, some of them were even spat out on the street.”
Next Sunday the veterans group will hold a ecumenical service at 2.30pm in St. Laurence’s Church, Stillorgan, Co Dublin.
“We want to be as diplomatic and as inclusive as possible,” Purcell said, “so we’re asking anyone who’s coming along to bring a single stemmed flower of their choice to the service.”
A Google-backed project to collate the names of the 41,000 Irish who died in the conflict was launched earlier this year.
Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore said that the digitisation of the records was “making up for lost time”.
Details of how to contact the Ireland’s World War 1 Veterans project are available here, or you can email contact@worldwar1veterans.com.
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I had a great grand uncle who fought in the war. He died at the Somme unfortunately.
had two great uncles, both were killed.
Are they listed in the projects above? Sounds like a nice project to be involved in.
I relatively recently found out my grandmother was an aircraft mechanic in the UK during WW2. It was listed on my father’s birth cert. I’m always amazed by what I didn’t know about my bloodline.
My great grandfather was killed in Luvein in Belgium. He will be a hundred years dead this year. My other great grandfather was killed by a British sniper while crossing o’connell street in 1916.
My Great Grandfather was a survivor, he fought on the German side. I feel privileged that I actually met the man and heard his stories :-)
My great grand uncle was killed at the Second Battle of Loos in Belgium on his second or third day there. Have a good bit of information about him and a picture of him sitting in his uniform before he was shipped over. My family went over and found the grave a few years back. Interesting stuff.
My grandfather fought with the Munster fusiliers in Gallipoli , he got injured and convalesced in Malta, went on afterwards and fought in the battle of loos loosing his forearm in battle and subsequently returned to Ireland.
Mine was Royal Munsters too
I died in 1890 so it didn’t affect me.
My grandfather was in the British navy, ship got torpedoed out in the bosphorus. Survived and was brought to naples and back to Ireland.
My Great Grandfather was a ships carpenter in the British Navy during WW1. Served in the Atlantic Fleet. Survived the war thankfully.
My great Grandad with his brothers fought in France they were quite young, they all survived, they were from Trim Co Meath. My Mum said that he never talked about it only to the eldest grandchild, Mum always wondered why he had limp it was because he got shot in the back of the foot. He had a number of medals too.
Some great info online on the meath volunteers. Our family were nationalists yet we have two great uncles killed within days of one another in early August 14 in Flanders and Ypres both teenagers from Trim and recruited in Drogheda, often wonder about the stigma at the time or how the family saw it. They split to different regiments the leinster yeomanry and queens own hussars.
My great grandad from Trim fought in Ypres also
At the time of WW1, the vote was restricted to men over 21 who owned property – about 15% of the Irish adult population. Anyone who joined up because they “believed in democracy” would have wanted their head examined.
Why disgrace these men’s memory by trying to bring your feminist politics into this? Out of order.
Spot on, won’t hear the revisionists shouting about that sort of thing though
Actually, Emily is far from a feminist and routinely quotes interesting facts and figures on here. I think you’re misinterpreting the points made in the post.
She said the men who fought in the war should have their heads examined. That’s disrespectful end of. What about the many nurses who cared for the men during the war, should they be examined as well?
Were you around at the time, easy for you to say they needed their heads examined, things were very different back then.
I could type out the whole post again rather than the selected words which change the whole sense of it, but something tells me that would be a waste of time.
john so as soon as someone dies we cant “disgrace their memory” by questioning their motives ??? is that what you are saying ??
anyone that fought in WW1 was a misguided fool and if you weren’t from them countries then the more the fool you,fighting for small belgiums freedom ??? would this be the same Belgium that killed roughly 10 million african slaves in its colonies ??? take your head out of your arse
The only misguided fool here is you, there were many motives for fighting in WW1 and if you believe the main motive was to defend poor old Belgium then you’re a bigger fool, what ever you think these men were brave not a keyboard coward like you.
i am a coward based on what ??? of course there was variety of motives but that was a main one so deal with it,many believed it,take a deep breath too doc because i have no problem debating with you but i am not going to listen to your insults,if you are too stupid to form an argument without attacking me based on nothing at all then we wont do this,i havent the time nor patience to deal with you
That is hypocritical coming from you Jeremy, getting defensive and taking umbrage with my remarks about you, what about about your insult on every soldier who fought in world war 1, calling them fools including my Grandfather, so your riposte does not wash with me and you’re right don’t debate this issue with me.
you are not the onyl one with family in it and i stand by my statement,your knickers is in a twist because you know i am right,go and debate it so,id love to have it with you and when we are doen with WW1 we can start on michael collins !!! :-)
Hang your head in shame ! Those men died so that you, ungrateful brat that you are, could express thoughts like the above.
Troll
This forum is not for debate, it’s a memorial. F**k off if you have nothing positive to add.
The English side of my family literally lost an entire generation of men in World War 1. Two brothers died as a result of gas poisoning and the third brother was shot under a week before the ceasefire. Their nephew, my great grandfather, then went on to work on the bouncing bombs in WW2, and my grandfather was stationed in Germany after the war. Almost an entire generation of men was wiped out across Europe not once, but twice in the 20th century. It’s wonderful that something is being in Ireland done to recognise the Irish involved in WW1, it’s a part of Ireland’s history that’s often forgotten
My great grandad Michael wolohan fought at the battle of Somme and luckily survived. Too think none of my family would have been born if he didn’t survive…
My great uncle died in Belgium in WW1 and grandfather went down off the coast of France when a bomb went down the funnel of the ship he served on, his wife, my grandmother was a volunteer warden and was killed in the blitz in London. My grandfather ( brother on the man killed in Belgium) narrowly avoided being killed by the Black and Tans by lunging down a ravine, they shot the 3 men he was on his way to meet.
My grandfather Malachy Moore from Borrisokane was in the Medical core together with his brother Pat. Two weeks ago we celebrated my fathers 90th birthday on D Day 70 years after he landed in Normandy
All respect to those that died, but anyone reading this, has to have had family that survived WW1…just saying.
Ah, you might want to rethink that statement
People who mention the dead are just offering their sympathy & understanding to this movement . I see no big problem with inclusion with survivors. It’s a small forum
When I was younger and was causin shit in the house, my mam used to say “there will be world war 3 when your father gets home” I survived a few of them, but am to answer that question, no!
Jesus my grandmother god rest her soul was a child then and she use to tell me stories from back around that time, her mother us to hide the IRA up the chimney pot in there house in town, (Dublin City centre), 1916 was a year to remember she would say, bringing back old memories this post, dam I miss her RIP grandma,
I had a great uncle killed at sea three weeks after the end of WW1 in December 1918 when the vessel he was on at night struck a sea mine. His son a soldier in France survived the war.
My great grandad fought we think on the somme was blinded and was given army housing in churchtown
On the irish side of my family my great uncle fought in gallipoli . He Survived But Lived basically on the streets or in a hostel ever after. Both my grandmother and my other grand uncle did what they could to help but there was not a lot of money around in those days .
He died in the leopards town hospital circa the late 60′s to the early 70′s
Two great grandads. One was badly hurt by mustard gas.
My Grandfather fought in both wars and I believe suffered from PTSD afterwards. Died 7 years after the war was over . I know very little after that. What amazed me was the ignorance that existed in Ireland when they returned. They didn’t serve the crown, it was to feed their families as there was no work and social welfare did not exist.
My father Michael Herlihy (1879-1966) from Cork emigrated to Boston in 1898 & returned to Liverpool in 1915 where he enlisted in the Royal Field Artillery & served 1 year & 314 days until he was invalided back to England. He was 75 when I was born & 79 when my brother was born.
I had a gran uncle John Wall (Jackie) who survived. My father told me he was never the same when he got home.
Lots of my family survived the war. Had sense and stayed at home
Yeah General Tom Barry of the IRA and Captain Liam Lynch of the same family.
the exception proves the rule
Who gives a tinker’s curse.
I would imagine their ancestors would
Oops. That should be corps
My grandfather: Arthur Blake, was a medical officer in the great war. He survived unlike two of his unfortunate brothers. Can’t remember regiments of them. He died year before I was born – pity.
2 grandfathers, and 4 great uncles, one of whom was killed, William Buchanan
Lots of Shinner Trolls with dislike posts. Shame on you. Ye demand we honour the heroes of 1916 but pillory those who honour the men who fought for a cause that they too believed in. A noble cause for a different time. They may have been misguided cannon fodder but they were brave Irishmen. If you don’t like it just leave the forum.
My Grandfather William Lynch, Royal Munsters, survived WW1, My Grand uncle, Patrick Murphy, Connaught Rangers died @ Mons in 1915- aged 19. May they Rest in peace
The glory of empires.
My great grandad fought in the first World war on the British side and got torpedoed twice and survived to marry his child hood sweetheart and lived to a good age of 88. Two of his brothers were killed by the Germans in battle
Correct me if I’m wrong but didn’t the whole country survive the war?
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