Roscrea remembers its first world war heroes

This Friday and Saturday, May 15th and 16th, Roscrea Through The Ages along with Ireland Reaching Out and Roscrea Heritage, will be putting on an exhibition and talks on the men from the town who fought and died in World War I. This will take place in the annex of Damer House and admission is free.
About 500 men from the town enlisted, of whom over 100 were killed. The series of talks and exhibition comes on the back of the World War I commemoration event which took place last September when the Seattle Pipe & Drums Band accepted the kind invitation from Hugh Keane and Roscrea Credit Union to visit Roscrea and partake in a most memorable event.
On Friday night at 7.30pm there will be a series of talks, which will include a piece on what Roscrea was like at the time, including the lack of the availability of labour due to there being so many gone. A talk on the Leinster Regiment in Birr where most of the men from the town enlisted, a piece on the men from Bunkers Hill, where many fought and died, the story of how local soldiers coped with life after the war and more. There will also be a recording from 1977 of Sergeant Jack Moyney VC, who was born in Rathdowney but spent most of his life in Roscrea, telling the story of his enlisting in the Irish Guards and how he won his Victoria Cross.
In the exhibition, which will run both on Friday night and Saturday until 2pm, there will be many items such as letters, medals, papers etc. from people of the area who had relatives in the war. There will also be a display of weapons and other items which would have been used at the time and a display of recruitment posters.

On Saturday between 11am and 1pm there will be an expert there that people might bring along any items that they might have and he will be able to tell them what they have and to advise on how to find out more about them and where their relatives might be buried, etc.

If you have anything to contribute or need more information you can contact Joe Coughlan on 087 8140137 or email roscreathroughtheages@gmail.com.