Section 9: Aftermath

PEACE

On 11th November 1918 Germany and the Allied forces agreed to a cessation of hostilities. News of the end of the war was celebrated across Newry and Mourne. The flags of Britain and the Allies were flown from public buildings and carried through the streets. Thanksgiving services also took place in local churches. In Newry a torchlight procession, in which both Nationalist and Unionist bands participated, was held, and in Newtownhamilton there was a huge bonfire with an effigy of the ex-Kaiser placed on top. Further local celebrations were held in July 1919 following the signing of a peace treaty at the Palace of Versailles in France.

Flyer advertising Peace Celebrations at Warrenpoint, 1919 LIFE AFTER WAR

As the war neared its conclusion veterans’ organisations began to emerge. A branch of the National Federation of Discharged and Demobilised Sailors and Soldiers was formed for Newry and district at the end of May 1918. This organisation sought to promote fellowship between ex-servicemen, while also lobbying on behalf of their interests. The British Legion was founded in 1921 after a merger between a number of organisations including the National Federation and the Comrades of the Great War.

Many men returned damaged, physically or mentally. Some suffered from ‘shell shock’, a newly designated condition which is now known as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Over 40,000 British men lost at least one limb during the war.

Officers and Committee of the Newry Branch of the British Legion, 1927 (Newry and Mourne Museum Collection)

Prosthetic arm (Courtesy of the Science Museum/Science & Society Picture Library). This artificial arm was invented and made in Belfast, in the 1920s, by Surgeon Thomas Sinclair Kirk and engineer Alexander Pringle. The fingers were opened and closed by a lever on the wrist. Kirk’s grandfather, William Kirk, was MP for Newry, 1868–1871.

The 1919 Restoration of Pre-War Practices Act forced most women to leave their wartime roles as men came home and factories adjusted to peacetime production.

REMEMBRANCE

Even before the war had ended there was a desire to preserve the memory of those who had died. Special services were held on anniversaries such as the Battle of the Somme and memorial services were held for individuals who had been killed. In 1917 a ‘Forget-me-not’ Day of commemoration was held in Newry.

After the war, thoughts turned to memorialisation. Churches, for instance, erected memorials. The War Memorial in the grounds of Mourne Presbyterian Church, Kilkeel, was erected to commemorate the fallen of the congregation and unveiled in 1923. Other Protestant churches chose memorial plaques or tablets, pipe organs or stained glass windows. Schools and workplaces also produced tributes. A memorial tablet was erected in Newry High School and Mourne Grange Preparatory School, outside Kilkeel, compiled a Roll of Honour of teachers and former pupils and named new classrooms after First World War battles. A Roll of Honour was unveiled in Newry Post Office in July 1916, which listed 25 staff. Plaques were also unveiled in Orange and Masonic Halls. The Irish National Foresters sold poppies in their Newry clubhouse in the late 1920s and St Joseph’s Brass and Reed Band performed at concerts to raise money for local war memorials. A War Memorial was unveiled in Bessbrook in 1934 and in Newry in 1939. These continue to provide a focus at annual Remembrance Day ceremonies.

Remembrance of the war could be politically divisive. At the time when the War Memorial for Newry was planned, the Northern Ireland Government refused to permit the Newry Old IRA Remembrance Association to erect a Celtic cross to the dead of 1916–1923.

The presence of First World War dedications on family headstones in both Protestant and Catholic cemeteries in the Newry and Mourne district are reminders of bereavement and the impact of the war on the area.

Memorial card for Sapper Patrick J. Donnelly (Courtesy of Newry Post Office Historical Society) Members of the Newry Women’s Branch of the Royal British Legion at the unveiling of the War Memorial in Bessbrook, 1934 (Courtesy of William McAlpine)

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES

PEACE

1. Read the following accounts of how news of the Armistice on 11th November 1918 was greeted in Newry and Mourne.

Extract from the published reminiscences of Robert Jones, Warrenpoint: Childhood memories lie deep for I remember too a very old man, Colonel Manser, running up Gray’s Road, now Gt. George’s Street, shouting, “The war is over, peace has come” on that first 11th of November morning in 1918. The news must have come by telegraph to the Post Office, managed by Mr. and Mrs. Fox or by telephone to the Manual Exchange managed by Miss Steenson in Church Street. How it came I don’t know, but the news spread like wildfire. […] On that memorable night in 1918, the Skating Rink was illuminated, the Bands were out, bonfires were lighted and an air of carnival was abroad. Bed was forgotten that night!

Article from The Newry Reporter, 12th November 1918: JOYOUS SCENES IN NEWRY: Union Jacks and the Stars and Stripes were displayed in various parts of the town, and there was an air of unqualified delight throughout the day. Lively demonstrators paraded the streets, and in the afternoon the bells of St. Patrick’s and St. Mary’s Parish Churches rang out joyous peals. The men in the military Barracks were given a holiday, and spent the day merrily. At night scenes of great animation were witnessed all over the town. A great public demonstration of rejoicing will take place to-night. All the local bands will participate in it, and there will be a torchlight procession.

Article from The Newry Reporter, 14th November 1918: FROM WAR TO PEACE: REJOICINGS IN NEWRY: TORCHLIGHT DEMONSTRATION:

The employees of the local mills and factories were given a half-holiday. A number of the business establishments of the town also closed for the afternoon. The young people paraded with flags, which also adorned many private buildings […]. At night many houses, notably in Canal Street, were illuminated, and there was a torchlight demonstration through the chief thoroughfare of the town. The citizens of Newry turned out practically en masse, and there was a large influx of people from the districts immediately surrounding the town. Shortly after 8 o’clock a procession of monster dimensions formed up at the junction of Hill Street, William Street, and Kilmorey Street and, headed by several Belgian refugees, a large number of torch-bearers, and all the local Unionist and Nationalist bands, marched triumphantly through Hill Street to Kildare Street, where the victorious termination of the war was fittingly celebrated. […]

ROSTREVOR

When news of the signing of the armistice was received in Rostrevor on Monday morning the church bells were chimed and flags displayed. Owing to the absence of the honorary ringers, several of whom have been on active service for some time, change ringing was not possible. However, chiming bells were rung, ending up with “God Save the King” and “Jesus Shall Reign.” Everywhere the greatest enthusiasm prevailed. On Tuesday a huge bonfire was built and lighted on the sea-front.

• Make a list of how the Armistice was marked in the Newry and Mourne district.

REMEMBRANCE

2. Shown below are some of the ways people in Newry and Mourne remembered those who served and died in the First World War.

Wooden plaque at St Bartholomew’s Church of Ireland, Donaghmore, County Down (Newry and Mourne Museum Collection)

First World War Memorial at St Mary’s Church of Ireland, Drumbanagher, County Armagh (Newry and Mourne Museum Collection) Memorial tablet at Newry High School (Newry and Mourne Museum Collection)

Memorial organ at Downshire Road Presbyterian Church, Newry (Newry and Mourne Museum Collection) Memorial stained glass window in St Mary’s Church of Ireland, Newry (Newry and Mourne Museum Collection)

• Make a list of some of the different ways those who fought in the First World War are commemorated in the district.

• Look at the three War Memorials (Bessbrook, Kilkeel and Newry). What similarities and differences can you notice between them?

Bessbrook War Memorial Kilkeel War Memorial Newry War Memorial

3. The following is the text of a letter which appeared in The Newry Reporter on 11th October 1938. It was sent by John Southwell of Queen Street, Newry (Secretary of the Northern Old

IRA Remembrance Association, Newry Branch) to the Clerk of the Newry Urban District

Council.

The above Association are desirous of honouring the memory of all who fell in the struggle for Irish independence from 1916 to 1922, and of Irish patriots generally throughout the ages. They have decided that the town of Newry – having a great National record, and being the centre of a very historic district which splendidly distinguished itself – is an appropriate place to erect a memorial. In the furtherance of the project they are confident of the wholehearted support of the citizens of Newry. I am instructed to ask the Urban Council to be kind enough to donate a site for the erection of a memorial at the John Mitchel end of Hyde Market (or St. Colman’s Park). Apart from its national significance and the interest which it will give to visitors to the town, it will be one worthy of the object – probably a Celtic cross – and one in which the citizens can take pride.

The following is the text of a letter sent from Samuel J. Baird, Honorary Secretary of the Newry Unionist Association, to James Brown, MP, Warrenpoint, dated 11th October 1938 (Courtesy of PRONI, HA/32/1/669):

The Committee of the above Association have requested me to get in touch with you in regard to the action of the Newry Urban District Council in granting to an illegal organization – the Irish Republican Army – permission to erect a Memorial at Hyde Park, Newry. The Memorial, it is believed, is to be erected opposite St. Mary’s Protestant Church, and would certainly be most objectionable. A memorial of this kind should not be allowed to be erected in Northern Ireland. My Committee desire me to ask you to use your influence with the Ministry of Home Affairs with a view to getting them to refuse sanction to such a memorial.

• From your reading of the above two letters, how could remembrance in Newry and Mourne be a divisive issue?

4. Shown here is a photograph of a medal that was designed and presented to men from Mourne who served in the First World War.

• Using this, or the images of the memorials above, can you design a medal or memorial to remember one of the following: (a) those who died in the First World War (b) all those who served in the First World War (c) those who died in the Easter Rising in Dublin or (d) an inclusive memorial that commemorates all those who died in the 1914–1918 period,

Protestant, Catholic, Nationalist, Republican and Unionist.

Mourne Medal (front and reverse) (Courtesy of Elizabeth Warnock)