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Irish Peace Tower
- 3. Background • Built to remember the 210,000 Irish Soldiers who served during WW1 • Ireland was deeply divided in 1914 between nationalist and unionist political groups.
- 4. Gallipoli • 10th Division of the new Irish Army Divisions served at Suvla Bay in Gallipoli on August 1915.
- 5. The Somme • 16th Irish and 36th Ulster division served during the battle of the Somme. • 36th Ulster suffered heavy casualties on the first day of the offensive, 1st July 1916.
- 6. Battle of Messines • 16th and 36th Divisions then fought together at the Battle of Messines. • It was hoped that there would be less tension back in Ireland between Protestants and Catholics.
- 7. The Island Of Ireland • A memorial was dedicated by the President of Ireland and Queen Elizabeth at Messines. • It was named the ‘Island of Ireland Peace Tower’ and symbolises political and social reconciliation. • It is built from reclaimed stone from Mullinger, Ireland. • Located upon the Messines Ridge.
- 8. Irish Peace Tower Any Questions?
- 9. Irish Peace Tower • Remembers 210,000 Irish Soldiers who served during WW1 • Ireland was deeply divided. • Symbolises political and social reconciliation. • Located on the Messines Ridge where Catholic and Protestant soldiers fought together
Editor's Notes
- Around 210,000 Irishmen served in the British forces during World War One. Ireland was deeply divided in 1914 between nationalist and unionist political groups, more local consideration played an important part for many individuals. Nationalists, for whom the establishment of an Irish 'home rule' parliament in Dublin had been the principal political aim for most of the 19th century, were committed to the war effort by their leader, John Redmond, in September 1914. Irishmen joined up for more than political reasons, some simply wanted the adventure, a prime example being Tom Barry, who later became the IRA commander, enlisting in 1915 to get a feel for war, to get a gun, to see new countries and feel like a grown man.
- 10th Division of the new Irish Army Divisions was first to see action, landing at Suvla Bay in Gallipoli on August 1915.
- The remaining two divisions both served in France taking part in the Battle of Somme. The worst of the fighting was encountered by the 36th Ulster Divisions having the task of going over the top on the first day, 1 July, as a result suffering terrible casualties. The 16th Irish Divisions saw their first serious action in September 1916, part of the long drawn out Somme Campaign.
- Eight months and further up the line in Belgium, the 16th and 36th Divisions then fought together at the Battle of Messines causing some to hope that this experience shared by the unionist and nationalists serving alongside one another on the battlefield, may help a political reconciliation back home, this unfortunately was not fulfilled.
- On the 50th anniversary of 1916 Easter Rising, great celebrations were held across an independent and nationalist Ireland. The sacrifices of the Ulster Division during the Somme were commemorated in Northern Ireland. At this stage the great mass of Catholic, nationalist Irishmen who had volunteered and served in the war had virtually been forgotten, in a sort of Irish 'national amnesia’. On the 80th anniversary of the armistice, 11 November 1918, a memorial was dedicated by the President of Ireland and Queen Elizabeth I at Messines to remember all the Irish people who had fallen in World War One. It was named the ‘Island of Ireland Peace Tower’ and was to act as a device to assist political and social reconciliation. Constructed using stones from a demolished workhouse in Mullinger, County Westmeath, Ireland. It is based on the Irish round tower that dates back to the 8th century. It stands at 33.5 metres high. As part of the design the inside of the tower is lit up by the sun only on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. This is the time at which the Armistice was declared and the guns fell silent on the Western Front after four years of fighting. The location of the Irish Peace Tower is significant as it signifies an important moment in World War One where both Protestant and Catholic Irish divisions fought side-by-side during the 1917 battle for the Messines Ridge.