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 August 21st

Barker, Philip

Date of Birth
Service No.
11493
Rank
Private
Regiment
Royal Irish Regiment
2nd Battalion
Date of Death
Circumstances of Death
Died of wounds - at the Battle of Albert, France 21-23 August 1914
Other Biographical Details

Son of Aidan and Mrs Elizabeth Barker née Neill of Duke Street, Wexford.

Boyce, Joseph

Date of Birth
Address
Rowe St and Abbey St, Wexford.
Service No.
12060
Rank
Corporal
Regiment
Royal Irish Regiment
2nd Battalion
Date of Death
Circumstances of Death
France and Flanders, killed in Action. Killed on the first day of the Ludendorff/ German Spring Offensive.
Other Biographical Details

Son of Joseph & Mary Boyce née Withers, 16 Abbey St, Wexford. 

Connors, Michael

Address
Clonmel, Co. Tipperary
Service No.
6807
Rank
Private
Regiment
Royal Irish Regiment
2nd Battalion
Date of Death
Circumstances of Death
Killed in Action France and Flanders
Other Biographical Details
His father Thomas was residing at Bride Street, Wexford

Nolan, Patrick

Date of Birth
Address
5 Edward's Lane, Enniscorthy.
Service No.
4806
Rank
Private
Regiment
Royal Irish Regiment
2nd Battalion
Medals
Date of Death
Circumstances of Death
Killed in Action France and Flanders
Other Biographical Details

Son of the late Patrick and Bridget Nolan née Byrne of 5 Mernagh Street, (Edward's Lane) Enniscorthy. Memorialised on the Vis-en-Artois Memorial (France).

Rossiter, Laurence

Address
20 Hook Street, Liverpool
Rank
Fireman and Trimmer
Regiment
Mercantile Marine
SS Oslo (Hull)
Date of Death
Circumstances of Death
Killed by an explosion on board ship.
Other Biographical Details
Son of Mary and the late Nicholas Rossiter of John Street, Wexford. Husband of Elizabeth Rossiter of 20 Hook Street, Liverpool. Article in a Wexford newspaper. Survivor of the ill-fated Lusitania ship.

Sample Records

Quirke, Thomas

Date of Birth
Address
Blackwater, Co.Wexford.
Service No.
9822
Rank
Private
Regiment
Royal Irish Regiment
1st Battalion
Date of Death
Circumstances of Death
Killed in Action at the battle of Hooge, Ypres France on Easter Sunday.
Other Biographical Details

Son of Miss Dora Quirk of Ballinahask, Kilmuckridge, Gorey. Remembered on Panel 33, YPRES (MENIN GATE) MEMORIAL.

Monaghan, Thomas

Date of Birth
Address
Taghmon
Service No.
3186
Rank
Lance Corporal
Regiment
Royal Munster Fusiliers
6th Battalion
Date of Death
Circumstances of Death
Killed in Action Gallipoli
Other Biographical Details

Son of John and Elizabeth Monaghan nee Nolan of Taghmon, Co. Wexford. Thomas is one of four brothers serving in the army.
Memorial Reference: Panel 185 - 190, Helles Memorial, Turkey.

White, Patrick

Date of Birth
Address
177 The Faythe, Wexford.
Service No.
9511
Rank
Rifleman
Regiment
Royal Irish Rifles
1st Battalion
Date of Death
Circumstances of Death
Killed in Action France
Other Biographical Details

Son of the late Nicholas and Mary Ann White née Doyle. Mother widowed in 1903, returned to Wexford and remarried to Michael Kavanagh, The Faythe (and later of Byrnes Lane). Effects to his mother. Lived with his mother and step-father in the Faythe and worked as a Messenger Boy aged 13 in 1911.

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