Seven Ballyshannon men named on Thiepval Memorial
On Sunday 28th June, 1914, the Archduke Franz
Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife Sophie, were
assassinated in Sarajevo in Bosnia. Their killings were the final act which led
to a World War resulting in the deaths of over eight million servicemen and
millions of civilians. Britain’s entry into the war in August 1914 led to
recruitment drives in Ireland. Ballyshannon witnessed the arrival of large
numbers of soldiers to drill at Finner
Camp in preparation for active service in the war. The military bands and recruitment
campaign would have been very evident in the Market Yard in Ballyshannon. The British military
presence in Ballyshannon for over 300 years also resulted in many families having connections
with the army. The
sight of troops marching from the GNR railway stations at Ballyshannon and Bundoran
to Finner Camp or on their way to the Western Front meant that the glamour and
excitement of the war was on our doorsteps. National politicians, such as
John Redmond, leader of the Home Rule Party were encouraging recruitment to the
army and, in return for this support,
they believed that Ireland would be granted Home Rule. The lack of local
employment would have encouraged some young men to join the army, as would the
guarantee of a regular income. No doubt some were influenced by the medias
condemnation of German atrocities and the desire to fight for the freedom of
small nations,such as Belgium. Some young men would have been attracted by the
perceived glamour and sense of
adventure, of a soldiers life, and the excitement of performing heroic deeds.The
attraction for others would have been the fight for King and for country. Some
supported Edward
Carson and the Ulster Volunteer Force and their opposition to Home
Rule. For
whatever reasons, young men joined the
British Army and landed in France, where the horrors of trench warfare and poisoned gas were at
variance with the glamourous propaganda of the recruitment campaigns. The war
of attrition was to last from 1914-1918, with barbed wire, machine gun fire,
poisoned gas, no man’s land, shell shock, injuries and death as constant
companions.
Finner
Camp-A Training Ground for World War I
Ballyshannon had been an English garrison town
since the period of the Ulster Plantation. The Rock Barracks was the local
headquarters for the British Army in the late 1800s but it lacked the space for
drilling manouevres and a rifle range. The site for Finner Camp was purchased in 1896 from the Folliott family who had
in earlier times resided at Wardtown Castle. The site had the advantage of
space, water and a dry sandy base with ideal flat ground for a rifle range.
This period saw unrest in South Africa and Finner became a training camp for
soldiers destined to fight in the Boer War. A Ballyshannon native, Robert
Johnston of “Laputa” won a Victoria Cross in
the Boer War. The officers’ horses were stabled at Camp View House, Dunmuckrum
and also at Portnason House during the early 1900s. Officers were billeted in
Portnason House at the period of the Great War. Indeed Ballyshannon Golf Club was established
as a nine hole course on the grounds above the house, overlooking the Erne in
1907.
The outbreak of the First World War in August 1914 saw an increasing use of
Finner Camp by the 109th Brigade, of the 36th Ulster Division under Col. T.E.
Hickman. The 109th Brigade consisted of the 9th Battalion
(Tyrone), 10th Battalion (Derry) and 11th Battalion (Donegal and Fermanagh)
Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers and the 14th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles
(Belfast). These were all volunteer battalions. The soldiers trained for forthcoming action
in France and the weather was good during September and October. However
subsequently a severe winter set in at Finner but despite this the soldiers
trained and used the excellent shooting range in the sandhills. Afer their initial
training at Finner, the 109th Brigade left in January 1915, destined for the
trenches on the Western Front in France. By July of 1915 all elements of the
36th Division had let Finner on their way to fight in the World War. Young men from the Ballyshannon area who fought
in France, would have enlisted in
Finner, Enniskillen or other parts of Ireland. Emigrants from Ballyshannon
joined the British, Canadian, Australian or American armies and in a
variety of different uniforms fought in
World War I. A record of over 40 deaths
of men from the area exists but no doubt others died and their details
have not come to light as yet. Many more returned from the
war wounded or shell-shocked. For a small community this must have been traumatic as
each year brought further sad news from the
war front. The first to die was George Browne, a member of the Royal
Inniskilling Fusiliers, born in Ballyshannon, but who later resided in Duke
Street in Derry and in Hume Street,
Clydebank in Glasgow. He died on the 1st
September 1914 and is remembered at the Verberie Communal Cemetery, Oise,
France. Grave No. 7. His name is also on a monument in the Diamond in Derry.
Three
Ballyshannon men die on First Day of the Battle of the Somme
The Battle of the Somme in France is remembered as
one of the bloodiest and most tragic in British military history, with some of
the most horrific examples of trench warfare,with the gaining of little ground
at great loss of life. The battle began on the 1st July 1916 and by the end of
that day there were over 60,000 casualties. The Battle of the Somme was a war of attrition which
lasted from July to November 1916. The Thiepval Monument was erected in memory of the Allied
soldiers who died along the river Somme. It is forty four metres high and was
constructed as a series of arches, in the shape of a pyramid. Erected on the
31st July 1932, the Portland Stone panels contain the names of 72,000
servicemen who lost their lives on the Somme and whose bodies were not located
properly.At least seven men from the Ballyshannon area are commemorated on the
Thiepval monument. Jim
Melly was present last week at the centenary commemoration of the Battle of the
Somme on the 1st July 2016, at the Thiepval memorial, to remember
his great-uncle Patrick Melly who died on the 1st July 1916 and also to pay
respects to the other Ballyshannon soldiers listed on the memorial
Three local men died in action on the 1st July 1916 on the opening
day of the Battle of the Somme: Corporal Patrick Melly son of Peter and Margaret Melly was born at Finner Ballyshannon. He was a career soldier who
was a private in the First Battalion Royal Inniskiling Fusiliers and took part
in the 1915 Gallipoli Campaign. In 1916 he joined the 87th Company Machine Gun Corps and
is remembered on
the Thiepval
Memorial at Pier and Face 5C and 12 C. The family still reside in the Finner area in
Ballyshannon. Sergeant Christopher Laird, son of Alexander and Elizabeth Laird ( nee
Funsten) , born Main Street Ballyshannon, 8th March 1895. He was a member of
the 11th Battalion, Royal Inniskiling Fusiliers, (The Donegals), and is
commemorated on Pier and Face 4D and 5B on Thiepval Memorial, in France. He was killed in action on the opening day of the Battle
of the Somme. His brother Private John Laird emigrated to the U.S.A. and served
in the American army on the Western Front in France. On his return to the USA
he died of his wounds. The Laird family are well known in the commercial life
of Ballyshannon and still reside there. Private Robert, Victor, Alexander Kearney, son of
Adam and Frances C. Kearney of Beaufoy Lodge, Rossnowlagh was a member of the
9th Battalion of the Royal Inniskiling Fusiliers, and is remembered at the
Thiepval Monument Pier and Face 4D and 5 B. He was 19 years of age and was killed on the first day
of the Battle of the Somme.
Other Ballyshannon soldiers commemorated at
the Thiepval Monument are: Private John Mc Donagh, son of William and Bridget Mc
Donagh, 94 Erne Street, was a member of the
7th Battalion of Royal Inniskiling Fusiliers, formerly Leinster
Regiment, who died on the 9th September 1916 , aged 29 years. He is remembered
on the Thiepval monument at Pier and Face 4 D and 5 B. Private Patrick
Gallagher formerly from Kilbarron, whose mother Annie was residing at 4
Fountain Street Strabane, was a member of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers and
was killed on the 10th July 1916, aged 28 years. He is remembered on Pier and Face
4D and 5.B on Thiepval Monument. Private Frederick Armstrong was a member of
the 8th Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers who died on the 9th September 1916. Remembered at the
Thiepval Memorial Pier and Face 4D and 5B. Private John Joseph Mc Shea son of Terence and Kate McShea (nee
McGowan). Born Rathmore 24th February 1894. Enlisted: Enniskillen. 1st
Battalion. Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers. (Formerly Leinster Regiment). died
30th January 1917 aged 28. Remembered at Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France, Pier
and Face 4D and 5B. Private McShea was wounded at the Somme in 1916.
Major Myles and some other local survivors of the
Somme
Major
Sproule Myles was a member of a prominent Ballyshannon merchant family and
he fought at the Somme. He was company
commander in the 11th Battalion of The Royal Inniskiling Fusiliers ( The Old
Donegals): “On the morning of 1st
July 1916 their task was to support another Battalion in the attack at the
Somme. It was their first big battle and they were full of fervour to prove
their mettle. They had to attack one of the best defended German positions. It
was reached at a terrible sacrifice of men. Nothing was won but glory.Captain
Myles was severely wounded and was awarded the Military Cross for his gallantry
and leadership. Five hundred and seventy seven officers and men of the
battalion were killed or wounded and the losses of that fateful morning brought
mourning and sadness to many Donegal homes.”Major Myles was a prominent
politician in the Irish Free State and served in Dáil Éireann for a long
period. Private W. Friel and Private Fred Vaughan were wounded at the Somme.
Thomas Carberry 1889-1975 served in the 11th Royal Inniskilling
Fusiliers (Ulster Division) and was disabled on 1st July 1916 at the
Battle of the Somme. Rev. Wright, Presbyterian Minister on the Mall Ballyshannon from 1908-1925, served as a chaplain with the 36th (Ulster Division) in France during the Battle
of the Somme. He
was awarded the Military Cross. John Torrens R.I.F. Lisahully was wounded at
the battle of the Somme. He was later captured by the Germans in the last few
months of the war. He was repatriated after the Armistice and is buried in the
Abbey graveyard. A War Memorial tablet was unveiled at St. Anne’s Church
Ballyshannon on Sunday 23 September 1923 by Dr. Peacock Bishop of Derry and Raphoe.
It contained the names of 51 survivors of the Great War.
Talk on Local Memories of World War One and the Somme
On Friday 4th
November 2016 Anthony Begley, local historian, will present new research on
Ballyshannon memories of the Battle of the Somme and World War One at the
Annual Emerson Memorial Lecture in the Abbey Centre Ballyshannon. The talk organised
by County Donegal Historical Society will be held in association with the Allingham
Arts Festival.
A Local History Book suitable for those at Home and Away
"Ballyshannon. Genealogy and History" reveals newly researched history and genealogy of the town, extending as far as the Rossnowlagh, Cashelard, Corlea, Clyhore, Higginstown and Finner areas. Includes the parishes of Kilbarron and Magh Ene. It contains the full story of The Green Lady which was recently performed in Ballyshannon to great acclaim. The genealogy material provides detailed guidelines for anyone tracing their roots in the area or anywhere in County Donegal or Ireland. The book contains 500 pages and is richly illustrated with stunning colour, aerial photography, original illustrations and rare photographs of the area not seen before. Available in Novel Idea, Ballyshannon Museum, Local Hands, Clearys, O'Neills in Ballyshannon and 4 Masters Bookshop Donegal Town.
Also available from Anthony Begley for postal enquiries email anthonyrbegley@hotmail.com
