Killyleagh To Commemorate Battle Of The Somme

A special series of commemorative events is being lined up to mark the 100th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme in Killyleagh.The bloodiest battle of the First World War is to be recalled, with the events including an early morning vigil to mark the exact time, 100 years on, that the County Down Volunteers of the 13th Royal Irish Regiments went over the top.

Event organiser Chris Hagan said: “The cross-community programme of events will include history walking trails, a photographic exhibition, a workshop for young people, a primary schools event and four lectures and talks. It was endorsed at a public meeting in the town’s Lecture Hall on Thursday night.

“The programme is modelled on the highly successful ‘Killyleagh Remembers the Great War’ series of events held in August 2014 to mark the 100th anniversary of the start of the Great War.

“The focus will be on Friday the first of July. The plan is to stage an early morning vigil, at 7.30am, at the exact time the 36th Ulster Division went over the top. It will be a short ceremony of remembrance open to everyone,” explained Chris Hagan of the Killyleagh Remembers the Great War project.

“Whistles will be blown and we will ask those in attendance to walk forward to the War Memorial to honour the men of Killyleagh and Shrigley who fought and died.

“Later that evening at 7pm we are planning a repeat of the town commemoration of 2014 in which 100 individual crosses will be laid to mark 100 years since the battle.”

The Killyleagh and Shrigley men who died at the Somme included David Boyd, William James Calvert, Francis Cheevers, John Kennedy, Samuel Martin, Moore McCleery, Samuel Montgomery, William Robert Moore, John Bennett Morrow and William Walker. Eight died in the first hours of going over the top.

Chris Hagan added: “The aim is to make all the events as inclusive as possible, to reflect the shared history of service of the 242 men from Killyleagh and Shrigley who served in the Great War. We are keen to supplement the existing commemorations which have been held since July 1917.”

The programme will begin with a special Voices of the Somme event featuring music, poetry and drama readings on Friday 24 June.

The talks and lectures will feature BBC NI broadcaster Stephen Walker whose latest book `Ireland’s Call’ tells the story of sportsmen who fought and died in the war.

 Killyleagh-born Philip Orr, the author of the definitive history of men of the Ulster Division who fought at the Somme, will make a return to the town, while the historian Dr Eamon Phoenix will look at the nationalist and republican experience of the time.Funding has also been secured from Newry, Mourne and Down District Council’s Decade of Centenaries programme for a bus trip to Dublin to set events of 1916 in a wider context. It will include stops at sites visited by the Queen including Islandbridge.