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Ulster Nationalists and the Great War

Published in Issue 1 (Spring 1999), Letters, Letters, Volume 7

Sir,—I am researching the subject of Ulster and the Great War. I am particularly interested in the part played by nationalists from all over the north who joined the 16th Irish Division and other Irish and non-Irish units. While there is a wealth of material relating to the wartime role of northern unionists and, more recently, a rediscovery of the participation of southern nationalists, the subject of northern nationalists and the First World War remains under-researched and misunderstood. Though understandably the subject of northern nationalist involvement in the war remains a sensitive one, it does seem timely to re-assess this subject some eighty years on, particularly in the wake of the recent joint memorial to the 16th Irish and 36th Ulster Divisions at Messines and the spirit of reappraisal and reconciliation associated with that historic event.
I am very keen to uncover material relating to northern nationalists during the Great War, both at the front and at home, to understand better their experience of that time. If any readers have, or know of, any material which might be of assistance to my research, such as old letters and diaries, reminiscences, or even stories passed down through the family, I would be very grateful if they could get in touch with me.—Yours etc.,

ERIC MERCER
6 Cherryvalley Park
Knock
Belfast BT5 6PL

On this Day

April 25

1922 Commandant O’Neill, 3rd Cork Brigade IRA, was shot dead at the home of a Protestant family in Bandon, Co. Cork. In a series of unattributed reprisals, thirteen Protestant civilians were shot dead in the surrounding area over the following four days.
1920 RIC Sergeant Cornelius Crean, brother of the explorer Tom Crean, was killed by the IRA in an ambush near Upton, Co. Cork.
1870 Daniel Maclise (64), history and portrait painter who worked for most of his life in London, died.
1719 The life and strange adventures of Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe was published.
1819 Vere Foster, philanthropist and educationist, born in Copenhagen, where his Irish-born father was British minister.
1987 Lord Justice Gibson and his wife were killed by an IRA bomb as they crossed the border south of Newry, Co. Down.
1917 Ella Fitzgerald, jazz singer, born in Newport News, Virginia.
1922 Commandant O’Neill of the third Cork Brigade IRA was shot dead at the home of a Protestant family in Bandon, Co. Cork. In a series of unattributed reprisals, thirteen Protestant civilians were shot dead in the surrounding area between 26 and 29 April.
1915 During the First World War, Allied troops landed on Turkey’s Gallipoli Peninsula. The disastrous Gallipoli campaign, ending in January 1916, cost 46,000 Allied lives, including over 2,295 Irishmen.

Ulster Nationalists and the Great War

Personal Histories

On this Day

April 25