Post by Admin on Aug 17, 2014 14:07:15 GMT -5
REMEMBERING THE TRADEGY OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR:
CAMDEN FORT MEAGHER CROSSHAVEN 4 AUGUST 2014:
On the 4 August 1914 Great Britain and Ireland declared war on Germany after it had invaded neutral Belgium. Over the next five years thousands of men and women from County Cork were to fight and die on land, at sea and in the air. At its end over 3,000 men and women had paid the ultimate sacrifice from County Cork, and where tens of thousands who survived the pain and suffering of that terrible war carried both the mental and physical scars for the rest of their lives. It was one of the greatest tradegies ever experienced by the people of County Cork and the Island of Ireland and over the next five years we all have a moral duty to remember the pain and suffering that they endured in our name.
The 100 year anniversary of the beginning of the Great War was remembered during August weekend in Camden Fort Meagher when it conducted a series of special events. An exhibition was available to visit during the full weekend, and on Monday 4 August a special Memorial Ceremony conducted in the fort. It commenced with a special power point presentation outlining the events which unfolded from 1914 through to 1918 from a Cork perspective, and commencing at 12.30am. This was be followed by a wreath laying ceremony and musical tribute at 2pm to the memory of all those from County Cork who fought through or died during the First World War. The fort itself saw many of the soldiers who fought and died passing through its gates from 1914 through to 1918 and is an appropriate location to begin the Journey of Remembrance over the coming five years by the people of County Cork. This will be a special opportunity for the people of County Cork to remember the fallen of the First World War, and especially those who had a family member who either fought through or died on the battle fileds of the Great War. The people of County Cork are invited to attend the seminar and ceremony and are encouraged to bring a memorial wreath or floral tribute to be laid by family members at the ceremony. The Camden Fort Meagher web site ‘camdenfortmeagher.ie’ gives further details of the events planned over the coming August weekend.
The year 2014 will also witness the start of five years of intense ‘Ceremonies of Remembrance’ around Europe and the world in connection with the 100 year anniversaries of the First World War. Over the next four years this will continue and culminate on 11 November 2018 when this tragic period of World history finally ended one hundred years ago. At its end it left over 15 million people dead, the youth of Europe decimated, saw the fall of four Empires and laid the foundations for another and more devastating World War in 1939. It also saw the Western World becoming more involved in the Middle East after the defeat of the Ottoman Empire and where that legacy still lives with us today.
The Island of Ireland also paid a terrible price with over 49,000 men dead on the battlefields of Europe and the Middle East. Close to 300,000 Irishmen fought in the war and for many the pain and suffering they endured would continue with the terrible injuries they suffered and many either ending their days in a mental asylum or thrown on the dust heap of indifference. These were proud soldiers of Irish Regiments and Divisions, some of whom had a history going back hundreds of years to the times of the ‘Flight of the Wild Geese’ when Irishmen first began to fight in foreign lands.
The story of the soldiers of World War One is well known and where most countries have held ceremonies of remembrance and erected monuments in their honour since it ended on 11 November 1918. Sadly, here in Ireland that level of respect has not been sustained to those who fought and died in that terrible war, and where they have been airbrushed from our history books. Over the years monuments have been erected both here in Ireland and on the battle fields where they fought but as the decades went by and the veterans who fought in it faded away, their memory has been allowed to be forgotten.
The years 2014-18 are now unique opportunities for our nation to recover some of that history and to finally acknowledge the pain and suffering that these men from the Island of Ireland endured in our name. The year 1916 and the Easter Rising will be justifiably remembered and where hundreds of Irish volunteers fought in the GPO and around the streets of Dublin in the cause of Irish Freedom. However, tens of thousands of Irishmen also fought in the Battle of the Somme in 1916, many who believed they were fighting for an ‘Irish Cause’ and the Freedom of Small Nations. Will they be remembered?; let us hope so. Perhaps the remarks made by one of our most respected Taoiseach, Sean Lemass, at a special dinner in the Manson House in 1966 as Ireland celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Easter Rising and in the presence of Eamon De Valera along with veterans of the 1916 Rising should be remembered when he stated;
“Tens of thousands of generous Irishmen who, responding to the call of their Parliamentary leaders, had volunteered enthusiastically to fight, as they believed for the liberty of Belgium... In later years, it was common and I feel guilty in this respect, to question the motives of those men who joined the new British armies formed at the outbreak of the war, but it must, in their honour and in fairness to their memories, be said they were motivated by the highest purpose, and died in their tens of thousands in Flanders and Gallipoli, believing that they were giving their lives in the cause of Irish liberty everywhere, not excluding Ireland”.
The legacy of Irish history has been used for many causes in modern day Ireland. Men of violence have used such legacies to justify terrible acts of violence against its own people. However, the legacy of the men who fought in World War One has a positive message of Peace and Reconciliation. During the war one Irish soldier, Willie Redmond MP, often stated in the British Parliament in the context of the Home Rule issue that the struggle against a common enemy had brought both Irish Protestant and Catholic together in the trenches of the Western Front and once reflected on this with a friend when he remarked;
“It would be a fine memorial to the men who have died so splendidly if we could over their graves, build up a bridge between North and South...One could not help doing so when one finds that the two sections are actually side by side holding the trenches”
One man who saw this potential was Paddy Harte TD after returning from a journey of discovery to the Western Front some twenty years ago. As he walked around the battle fields where Irishmen had fought, visited the monuments where they are remembered and the cemeteries where they are buried, he began to understand the pain and suffering that they had endured and returned to Ireland with a determination to change the terrible in justice perpetrated against their memory. The culmination of that journey was on 11 November 1998, where he finally saw the fruits of his labour unveiled when the Island of Ireland Peace and Reconciliation Park was opened on Messines Ridge in southern Belgium. This was the year of the Good Friday
Agreement, which saw thousands of Irish people from the Island of Ireland in attendance and where both the President of Ireland, Mary McAleese and the Queen of Great Britain, Queen Elizabeth II, walked side by side to lay memorial wreaths to the soldiers from the Island of Ireland who had fought and died together in the First World War. Today it stands as a monument to acknowledge the pain and suffering of the Irish soldiers who fought in the war but also to a shared history between both sets of communities on the Island of Ireland. Perhaps the final word should be left to both Perhaps the final word should be left to both Paddy Harte and Glen Barr when they declared together at the opening of the Peace Park the following pledge;
“From the crest of this hill... we have built a Peace Park and Round Tower to commemorate the thousands of young men from all parts of Ireland ... As Protestants and Catholics, we apologise for the terrible deeds we have done to each other and ask forgiveness. From this sacred shrine of remembrance, where soldiers of all nationalities, creeds and political allegiances were united in death, we appeal to all people in Ireland to help build a peaceful and tolerant society. Let us remember the solidarity and trust that developed between Protestant and Catholic soldiers when they served together in these trenches”.
In 2014 the people of Ireland have a unique opportunity to continue the work started by Paddy Harte and to use the legacy of those who fought in the First World War in a positive way. Hopefully, we as a nation of Irish people from the Island of Ireland can come together and carry out a promise made to all those who fought in the war that, ‘We will Remember Them’.
CAMDEN FORT MEAGHER CROSSHAVEN 4 AUGUST 2014:
On the 4 August 1914 Great Britain and Ireland declared war on Germany after it had invaded neutral Belgium. Over the next five years thousands of men and women from County Cork were to fight and die on land, at sea and in the air. At its end over 3,000 men and women had paid the ultimate sacrifice from County Cork, and where tens of thousands who survived the pain and suffering of that terrible war carried both the mental and physical scars for the rest of their lives. It was one of the greatest tradegies ever experienced by the people of County Cork and the Island of Ireland and over the next five years we all have a moral duty to remember the pain and suffering that they endured in our name.
The 100 year anniversary of the beginning of the Great War was remembered during August weekend in Camden Fort Meagher when it conducted a series of special events. An exhibition was available to visit during the full weekend, and on Monday 4 August a special Memorial Ceremony conducted in the fort. It commenced with a special power point presentation outlining the events which unfolded from 1914 through to 1918 from a Cork perspective, and commencing at 12.30am. This was be followed by a wreath laying ceremony and musical tribute at 2pm to the memory of all those from County Cork who fought through or died during the First World War. The fort itself saw many of the soldiers who fought and died passing through its gates from 1914 through to 1918 and is an appropriate location to begin the Journey of Remembrance over the coming five years by the people of County Cork. This will be a special opportunity for the people of County Cork to remember the fallen of the First World War, and especially those who had a family member who either fought through or died on the battle fileds of the Great War. The people of County Cork are invited to attend the seminar and ceremony and are encouraged to bring a memorial wreath or floral tribute to be laid by family members at the ceremony. The Camden Fort Meagher web site ‘camdenfortmeagher.ie’ gives further details of the events planned over the coming August weekend.
The year 2014 will also witness the start of five years of intense ‘Ceremonies of Remembrance’ around Europe and the world in connection with the 100 year anniversaries of the First World War. Over the next four years this will continue and culminate on 11 November 2018 when this tragic period of World history finally ended one hundred years ago. At its end it left over 15 million people dead, the youth of Europe decimated, saw the fall of four Empires and laid the foundations for another and more devastating World War in 1939. It also saw the Western World becoming more involved in the Middle East after the defeat of the Ottoman Empire and where that legacy still lives with us today.
The Island of Ireland also paid a terrible price with over 49,000 men dead on the battlefields of Europe and the Middle East. Close to 300,000 Irishmen fought in the war and for many the pain and suffering they endured would continue with the terrible injuries they suffered and many either ending their days in a mental asylum or thrown on the dust heap of indifference. These were proud soldiers of Irish Regiments and Divisions, some of whom had a history going back hundreds of years to the times of the ‘Flight of the Wild Geese’ when Irishmen first began to fight in foreign lands.
The story of the soldiers of World War One is well known and where most countries have held ceremonies of remembrance and erected monuments in their honour since it ended on 11 November 1918. Sadly, here in Ireland that level of respect has not been sustained to those who fought and died in that terrible war, and where they have been airbrushed from our history books. Over the years monuments have been erected both here in Ireland and on the battle fields where they fought but as the decades went by and the veterans who fought in it faded away, their memory has been allowed to be forgotten.
The years 2014-18 are now unique opportunities for our nation to recover some of that history and to finally acknowledge the pain and suffering that these men from the Island of Ireland endured in our name. The year 1916 and the Easter Rising will be justifiably remembered and where hundreds of Irish volunteers fought in the GPO and around the streets of Dublin in the cause of Irish Freedom. However, tens of thousands of Irishmen also fought in the Battle of the Somme in 1916, many who believed they were fighting for an ‘Irish Cause’ and the Freedom of Small Nations. Will they be remembered?; let us hope so. Perhaps the remarks made by one of our most respected Taoiseach, Sean Lemass, at a special dinner in the Manson House in 1966 as Ireland celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Easter Rising and in the presence of Eamon De Valera along with veterans of the 1916 Rising should be remembered when he stated;
“Tens of thousands of generous Irishmen who, responding to the call of their Parliamentary leaders, had volunteered enthusiastically to fight, as they believed for the liberty of Belgium... In later years, it was common and I feel guilty in this respect, to question the motives of those men who joined the new British armies formed at the outbreak of the war, but it must, in their honour and in fairness to their memories, be said they were motivated by the highest purpose, and died in their tens of thousands in Flanders and Gallipoli, believing that they were giving their lives in the cause of Irish liberty everywhere, not excluding Ireland”.
The legacy of Irish history has been used for many causes in modern day Ireland. Men of violence have used such legacies to justify terrible acts of violence against its own people. However, the legacy of the men who fought in World War One has a positive message of Peace and Reconciliation. During the war one Irish soldier, Willie Redmond MP, often stated in the British Parliament in the context of the Home Rule issue that the struggle against a common enemy had brought both Irish Protestant and Catholic together in the trenches of the Western Front and once reflected on this with a friend when he remarked;
“It would be a fine memorial to the men who have died so splendidly if we could over their graves, build up a bridge between North and South...One could not help doing so when one finds that the two sections are actually side by side holding the trenches”
One man who saw this potential was Paddy Harte TD after returning from a journey of discovery to the Western Front some twenty years ago. As he walked around the battle fields where Irishmen had fought, visited the monuments where they are remembered and the cemeteries where they are buried, he began to understand the pain and suffering that they had endured and returned to Ireland with a determination to change the terrible in justice perpetrated against their memory. The culmination of that journey was on 11 November 1998, where he finally saw the fruits of his labour unveiled when the Island of Ireland Peace and Reconciliation Park was opened on Messines Ridge in southern Belgium. This was the year of the Good Friday
Agreement, which saw thousands of Irish people from the Island of Ireland in attendance and where both the President of Ireland, Mary McAleese and the Queen of Great Britain, Queen Elizabeth II, walked side by side to lay memorial wreaths to the soldiers from the Island of Ireland who had fought and died together in the First World War. Today it stands as a monument to acknowledge the pain and suffering of the Irish soldiers who fought in the war but also to a shared history between both sets of communities on the Island of Ireland. Perhaps the final word should be left to both Perhaps the final word should be left to both Paddy Harte and Glen Barr when they declared together at the opening of the Peace Park the following pledge;
“From the crest of this hill... we have built a Peace Park and Round Tower to commemorate the thousands of young men from all parts of Ireland ... As Protestants and Catholics, we apologise for the terrible deeds we have done to each other and ask forgiveness. From this sacred shrine of remembrance, where soldiers of all nationalities, creeds and political allegiances were united in death, we appeal to all people in Ireland to help build a peaceful and tolerant society. Let us remember the solidarity and trust that developed between Protestant and Catholic soldiers when they served together in these trenches”.
In 2014 the people of Ireland have a unique opportunity to continue the work started by Paddy Harte and to use the legacy of those who fought in the First World War in a positive way. Hopefully, we as a nation of Irish people from the Island of Ireland can come together and carry out a promise made to all those who fought in the war that, ‘We will Remember Them’.