In remembrance of those men from Fermoy and the local areas who fought in World War One, Fermoys War are opening a memory bank in the Public Library in Fermoy and the IUNVA Post 25 building at Fitzgerald Place on Friday, November 11th, Armistice Day. We hope that you will visit the library or Post 25 and record the name of the person you wish to remember on this day.
In particular, they wish to record the names of the men and women who survived the war and returned to live out their lives here, locally, or elsewhere. There is no document of these people, no monument that reflects their sacrifice or records the memory of their lives.
The documentation will be held for safe keeping by the library in Fermoy: the ultimate goal of this project is that it will become the basis for a digital museum that documents Fermoy’s military history across two centuries. Information about this will be available in the library and at Post 25.
One hundred years ago, the Battle of the Somme raged in France, a devastating battle that was fought for five months and was responsible for mortalities and casualties in numbers so vast that they are almost beyond comprehension.
On Friday, November 11th, the opening of the memory bank to capture the memories and histories of people from this place who were directly engaged in the war is a gesture of remembrance and commemoration, acknowledging the terrible price they paid, for those who survived were marked by their experiences for the remainder of their lives. We hope you will feel encouraged to contribute your memories of the men who died and survived World War I on this important day.
Please visit Fermoy’s War website to view a prototype of this digital project fermoyswar.com. You can get in touch directly by email to fermoyswar@gmail.com for more information about this digital project, which is being created by Mary Colette Sheehan who has written a thesis on memory, World War One and Fermoy’s military past.
