Welcome to Wexford Great War Dead

During the Great War, 1914 – 1918, a large number of men from Co. Wexford fought and died in the conflict which has been described as  'the war to end all wars'. This conflict resulted in a catastrophic loss of life and had dire and lasting consequences for generations across Europe.

In Wexford, the local newspapers of the period are full of the obituaries of those men and women, military and civilian, who died as a result of the war.

Until recently, it was believed that just over 500 men from Co. Wexford, who had enlisted in the British military, died fighting in the land war on the Western Front, Middle East and at Gallipoli. Research now shows this number drastically understates the loss of life for County Wexford.

Due to advances in digital archiving and on-line research tools, we now have access to Naval Service, Royal Flying Corp and Mercantile Marine records, as well as digitised birth, marriage and death records for the period. These advances in technology and research methods allow us to develop a fuller picture of the devastation caused to families and communities in County Wexford by The Great War.

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Where have all the young men gone?


When we scan the Census forms
In twenty twenty one and wonder,
Where have all the young men gone?
Then we remember.  Ypres, Mons,
And the Somme.

They went to war a hundred years ago
Brothers, Fathers, and Uncles, we never grew to know.
Where have all the young men gone?
They lay at rest in Ypres, Mons,
And the Somme

The Volunteers answered Redmond's call,
When Britain's back, was against the  wall.
Never returned to where they came from
Now at peace in Ypres, Mons,
And the Somme.

Today crowds who stand and silently wait, for the
Last post and reveille, at the Mennin Gate.
Read men’s names and the regiments they came from
Who lie in graves, unmarked, at Ypres, Mons
And the Somme.

That mournful sound as buglers play.
The Last Post in Mennin at the end of day.
Their memory in towns and villages will live on.
As they rest quietly now, In Gallipolli, Ypres, Mons,
And the Somme.

To commemorate the hundredth anniversary of the end of The Great War  1914--1918. In Memory of. Pte Thomas Byrne. 1900. 6th Bn. Royal Irish Regt. Killed in Action at Passchendale, Ypres. 5th August 1917.
Tom O'Byrne, (Nephew) August 2018.

Died on July 28th

Byrne, James

Date of Birth
Address
Gorseinon, Glam.
Service No.
53948
Rank
Private
Regiment
Welsh Regiment
15th Battalion
Date of Death
Circumstances of Death
Killed in Action near Ypres, Flanders just before the opening of the Third Battle of Ypres.
Other Biographical Details

Son of Edward and Catherine Byrne née Karney.

Born on July 28th

Dempsey, Michael

Date of Birth
Address
Distillery Road, Wexford.
Service No.
5753
Rank
Private
Regiment
Royal Irish Regiment
6th Battalion
Date of Death
Circumstances of Death
Killed in action in Flanders
Other Biographical Details

Son of Peter and Mary Dempsey nee Doyle. Widow Margaret nee Murphy, Distillery Road, Wexford.

Walsh, Patrick

Date of Birth
Service No.
19488
Rank
Sergeant
Regiment
Grenadier Guards
3rd Battalion
Medals
Date of Death
Circumstances of Death
Killed in Action France and Flanders
Other Biographical Details

Son of John and Mary Walsh née Grady of Killinick.

Whelan, James

Date of Birth
Service No.
10514
Rank
Rifleman
Regiment
Royal Irish Rifles
1st Battalion
Date of Death
Circumstances of Death
Died from pneumonia, at 3rd Canadian General Hospital
Other Biographical Details
The son of Patrick and Mary Whelan née Nolan. His father was a smith’s helper. The 1901 Census shows the family at 21 Temperance Row, Wexford. His father was then an ambulance driver. Children were Stasia (18), Myles (15), Mary Ellen (13), Denis (10), Esther (8), James, and Patrick (3). His mother died from bronchitis at Back Street, Wexford, 23.2.1910. By 1911 his father, a general labourer, was at 17 Duke Street, Wexford, and had another son Peter (6). James was then a messenger boy. He was stationed at Portobello Barracks, Dublin, when he married Anne Emmett at St Paul’s Church, Dublin, 3.7.1915. Widow at 19 Hendrick Street, Dublin.

Sample Records

Reville, Patrick

Date of Birth
Service No.
2410B
Rank
Private
Regiment
Royal Naval Reserve
HMS Laurentic
Date of Death
Circumstances of Death
Laurentic ship was sunk off the Irish coast, hit a mine at Fanad Head en route to Halifax, Nova Scotia
Other Biographical Details

Son of William and Mrs Teresa Reville nee Butler of The Faythe, Wexford. His father was a shoemaker. His brothers Matthew, Nicholas and Joseph also served with the Royal Navy during the war.

Murphy, Thomas

Date of Birth
Address
Barrack Street, Wexford
Service No.
9929
Rank
Private
Regiment
Royal Irish Regiment
1st Battalion
Date of Death
Circumstances of Death
Killed in Action in the battle of St Julien, France
Other Biographical Details

Son of James Murphy, Barrack Street , Wexford. James was known as one of the best boxers in the army. Lord Kitchener wrote to James parents conveying the sympathy of the King and Queen on the death of Private Murphy. His brother Patrick, a seaman on board HMS Orbita, was drowned on the 31st of August 1915 at only 21 years of age.
Private James Murphy has no known grave but is commemorated on panel 33 of the Menin Gate, Ypres, Belgium.

Toole, David Frederick Jack

Date of Birth
Alias
Jack
Rank
Captain
Regiment
Canadian Infantry (Alberta Regiment)
49th Battalion
Medals
Date of Death
Circumstances of Death
Killed in Action
Other Biographical Details

 

Son of William John and Magdalene Toole nee Thompson of Curracloe House, Curracloe.

Brother of Lieutenant Edward Thomas Toole died 15.09.1916.

Buried: Ontario Cemetery, Sains-les-Marquion, Departement du Pas-de-Calais, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France

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