World War One was a truly global conflagration that impacted on nearly every village and town in Ireland. Young men from Ireland’s four provinces volunteered with many of them losing their lives in a conflict where mass casualities were the order of the day.
Those who ‘never came home’ were remembered at a short but dignified ceremony held at the World War One memorial in Fermoy last Saturday. Organisers included members of the Cork branch of the Western Front Association, the Royal Munster Fusiliers Association and the Irish Great War Society.
Representatives from the aforementioned groups laid wreaths at the monument. The event coincided with the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Messines – an engagement that claimed the lives of thousands of Allied and German soliders.
There was a good sized crowd in attendance with several locals wearing medals awarded to their relatives.
Other elements of the commemoration included a Great War exhibition in Fermoy Community Youth Centre and a lecture ‘Slaughter on the Somme’ given by Gerry White, chairman of the Cork branch of the Western Front Association.
