President Michael D Higgins will on Sunday morning lead the State commemoration to mark the centenary of the Armistice which brought the first World War to an end in 1918.
The ceremony at Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin will include unveiling of Victoria Cross commemorative plaques and wreath-laying ceremonies. The Government will be represented by Minister for Culture Josepha Madigan.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar will represent the State at the Armistice centenary commemoration at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.
There will also be ceremonies held in Enniskillen, the Co Fermanagh town which was the first on the island to proclaim the Armistice in 1918.
St Michael’s Catholic Church in Enniskillen is to take an active part in events there on Sunday.
Parish priest Msgr Peter O’Reilly will attend a ceremony at 6am in Enniskillen Castle where special lamps will be presented to each church.
He will also take part in a prayer service at the war memorial in Belmore Street just before the 11am Service of Remembrance in St Macartin’s (Church of Ireland) Cathedral.
Journey of reconciliation
Both St Macartin’s Cathedral and St Michael’s Church are on either side of Darling Street in Enniskillen. In June 2012, Queen Elizabeth crossed the street between the cathedral and church on her Diamond Jubilee visit to the town.
In September 2015, Mr Higgins also crossed the street, this time from the church to the cathedral. This “crossing of the street” is emblematic of the journey of reconciliation.
At St Fin Barre’s (Church of Ireland) Cathedral in Cork on Sunday, on each of the four minutes (one for each year of the first World War) before 11am a bell will ring once and silence will be kept. At 11am the traditional two minutes’ silence will be kept following which, at 11.02am the bells of the cathedral will ring out.
A Service of Commemoration to mark the end of the war will take place at 3.30pm in St Fin Barre’s Cathedral.
Names of dead
In Galway, Armistice Day events will commemorate the 1,400 men from the county who died in the war. On Sunday, wreaths will be laid by the Mayor of Galway, Cllr Niall McNelis, and the honorary consuls for Belgium and France at the Great War Memorial in the city after a remembrance day service in St Nicholas’s Collegiate Church. Five banners will be on display listing the names of the men from Galway who died in the war.
At St Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin, silence will be observed at 11am on Sunday to mark the end of the first World War. Choral Evensong at 3.15pm will include official wreath-laying.
The Irish Embassy to Belgium will be represented at more than 20 Armistice-related events this weekend. Among them is the annual wreath-laying at the Round Tower at the Island of Ireland Peace Park in the town of Messines, where events will include a parade.
Ambassador Helena Nolan will be present at the commemorations in nearby Ypres, including the traditional Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate.
