The battle of the Somme began on July 1st, 1916, and was “141 days of unrelenting horror that would claim over one million lives and scar a generation”.
The bloodshed was for a gain of 10km, historian Nikki Carter told the annual National War Memorial Gardens commemoration at Islandbridge, Dublin, to mark the first World War battle.
About 200,000 soldiers from the island of Ireland served over the course of the war, most of them volunteers.
In all, 4,435 dead are listed in Ireland’s memorial records, while the Imperial War Museum puts the figure at between 35,000 and 40,000.
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“As we remember the men of the Somme, the Ulstermen, the southern volunteers, and all those who gave everything, let us honour not just their courage, but the complexity of the world they came from and the legacy that they left behind,” Dr Carter told Saturday’s gathering of about 650 people including military veterans, serving personnel, politicians and members of the diplomatic corps.
This year’s ceremony also marked the 100th anniversary of the Royal British Legion in Ireland, which organises the event.
District chairman of the legion Paul Stephenson, who presided over the ceremony, said that since its foundation “despite adversity and challenge, the legion has persevered through changing times”.
“As we have for a century, we pay tribute to those who served, ensuring that their legacy endures,” he said.
Among veterans in attendance were Pat Whelan (89) from Irishtown, Dublin, who served in the Royal Air Force (RAF) in the 1950s and the Defence Forces Reserve for 33 years, and Harry Daly (91) from Ballyfermot, also Dublin, who served in the Royal Ulster Rifles from 1954 to 1960.
“I joined the Defence Forces Reserve at 16-and-a-half and at 18 went to Belfast and joined the Royal Air Force,” Mr Whelan said. He served in Egypt and spent time in Aden, Yemen. His last posting was in Anglesey, north Wales, “and I was able to go home every weekend from Holyhead”.
Mr Daly was living in England and was called up for national service in 1954 and, wanting to serve with an Irish regiment, joined the Royal Ulster Rifles.
Michael Dempsey, a former member of the French Foreign Legion from 1983 to 1990, laid an ivy wreath at the commemoration on behalf of the Foreign Legion association.
Now a schoolbus driver in Kilkenny, he joined the legion for “adventure”. He served in Djibouti in Africa, French Guiana in South America, Mururoa Atoll, south Pacific and in Corsica briefly with the Parachute Regiment and in France.
“I think it is very important to be here to remember those who lost their lives at the Somme,” he said. “They were many and they were everybody, many nationalities including Germans.”
During the ceremony Rev Peter Rutherford, chaplain to the Royal British Legion in Ireland, and Fr Paschal Hanrahan, Defence Forces head chaplain, led the dedication of a new replica of the Ginchy oak cross built by the 16th Irish division and originally erected on the Somme. The original will go on display in the National Museum of Ireland.
During the moving ceremony, the traditional remembrance was read by Lt Col Ken Martin, beginning: “They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old.”
The Last Post was played and two minutes’ silence observed before the wreath-laying ceremony. The first wreaths were laid by Lord Mayor of Dublin, Ray McAdam, and High Sheriff of Belfast, Fiona McAteer.
Minister for Further and Higher Education James Lawless laid a wreath on behalf of the Government. Northern First Minister Michelle O’Neill was represented by junior minister Aisling Reilly. Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly was represented by junior minister Pam Cameron.
Wreaths were also laid by the Defence Forces, An Garda Síochána, members of the Diplomatic corps, the Royal British Legion and other veterans’ associations.
