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 22nd

Cullen, Myles

Date of Birth
Service No.
8112
Rank
Private
Regiment
Royal Irish Regiment
6th Battalion
Date of Death
Circumstances of Death
Died of wounds France and Flanders
Other Biographical Details

Son of Robert and Mary Cullen nee Brien  of 20 Irish Street, Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford. Brother of 10614 Maurice Cullen and 8926 Thomas Cullen.

Sheehan, William

Date of Birth
Address
6 Upper William Street, New Ross
Service No.
4378
Rank
Sergeant
Regiment
Royal Irish Regiment
2nd Battalion
Date of Death
Circumstances of Death
Died of wounds, France and Flanders
Other Biographical Details
Son of Patrick and Jane Sheehan née Nelson, Red House, New Ross. Husband of Ellen Sheehan née Blanche of 6 Upper William Street, New Ross.

Born on July 22nd

Boland, Edward Joseph

Date of Birth
Address
Enniscorthy
Service No.
475780
Rank
Private
Regiment
Eastern Ontario Regiment
Date of Death
Circumstances of Death
Died of Wounds, Battle of Sanctuary Wood (Hill 62), east of Ypres.
Other Biographical Details

Son of Edward and Mary Ann Boland née Foran, of Millpark Road, Enniscorthy. His father was a policeman. Brother of Thomas Boland, Millpark Road, Enniscorthy. Remembered on Menin Gate, Ypres.

Dickinson, William John

Date of Birth
Service No.
Ch./1354 (S)
Rank
Private
Regiment
Royal Marine Light Infantry
Date of Death
Circumstances of Death
Result of enemy action
Other Biographical Details
Nephew of Mrs Alice Wragg. 671, Victoria Terrace, Heaton Mersey, North Manchester. Son of William James and Mary Jane Dickinson nee Tyrrell. His father was a clerk and later a contractor. The 1901 Census shows him living with his grandfather, John Tyrrell, a master mariner at 3 South Circular Road, Limerick. The 1911 Census shows his widowed mother at 18 New Road, Limerick. Children present were William (19, a bakery clerk), Kezia Alice (18), Richard (16), Elizabeth (4).

Ievers, Edwin

Date of Birth
Address
Ballyanne, New Ross, Co.Wexford.
Service No.
205130
Rank
Private
Regiment
Northumberland Fusiliers
7th Battalion
Date of Death
Circumstances of Death
Killed in Action
Other Biographical Details
Son of Edwin and Annie Ievers nee Valentine of Ballyanne, New Ross, Co.Wexford. Husband of Gertrude Ievers of 58 Ridley Street, Southwick, Sunderland. The 1901 Census shows the family at Whitechurch, New Ross.

Leared, Paul Lupus

Date of Birth
Address
Wexford
Rank
Major
Regiment
Gurkha Rifles
7th Battalion
Medals
Date of Death
Other Biographical Details

Youngest son of Richard Hughes Leared and Sarah Mary Leared née Boxwell. Husband of Jessie Kathleen Leared of 6 Gillsland Road, Edinburgh. Mentioned in the London Gazette 1910. Served in the South African War.

Murphy, Albert

Date of Birth
Address
Newbridge, Co. Kildare
Service No.
27700
Rank
Private
Regiment
Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers
7th Battalion
Date of Death
Circumstances of Death
Killed in action by gas in France
Other Biographical Details

Son of George and Mary Murphy née Keating. All the family were born in Wexford except Albert. Lived in Wexford since infancy. Named as Albert G. on the Census.

Neill, Aidan

Date of Birth
Address
Shannon Hill, Enniscorthy
Service No.
10849
Rank
Private
Regiment
Royal Irish Regiment
1st Battalion
Date of Death
Other Biographical Details
Son of Moses 'Aidan' and Ann Neill née Monaghan. Son of Aidan O'Neill of Shannon Hill, Enniscorthy.

Stafford, Francis

Date of Birth
Address
161 Iveagh Building, 25, New Bride Street, Dublin
Service No.
14896
Rank
Rifleman
Regiment
Royal Irish Rifles
Medals
Date of Death
Circumstances of Death
Missing in Action Gallipoli campaign presumed dead.
Other Biographical Details

Son of James and Anne Stafford née Keegan. Husband of Gertrude Stafford née Moore of 161 Iveagh Building, 25 New Bride Street, Dublin.  Served in India and the Boer War Campaign. Was employed in Guinness' and appears on the Guinness Great War Roll of Honour. His final rank was Lance-Corporal - promoted in the field. Commemorated on the Helles Memorial monument, Gallipoli, Turkey. 

Sunderland, John

Date of Birth
Service No.
29236
Rank
Private
Regiment
Royal Dublin Fusiliers
1st Battalion
Date of Death
Circumstances of Death
Killed in Action France and Flanders
Other Biographical Details
Son of Michael and Anne Sunderland née Parker.

Sample Records

Barton, Charles Erskine

Date of Birth
Alias
Ernie
Address
Ruane, New Ross
Rank
Captain
Regiment
Royal Irish Rifles
4th Battalion
Date of Death
Circumstances of Death
Died from gas poisoning at a military hospital in France. Buried at Pas de Calais.
Other Biographical Details

Son of C.W.Barton, D.L. of Glendalough House, Annamoe, Co. Wicklow. Husband of Norah Deane Barton, 4 Mount Pleasant Villas, Bray, Co. Wicklow. Brother of IRA officer, Sinn Fein member and Anglo-Irish Treaty signatory, Robert Barton, who also was an officer in Royal Irish Rifles. Son of Charles William Barton and Agnes Alexandra Frances (née Childers). He was raised at Glendalough House with his Childers cousins, including the famed Irish Nationalist Robert Erskine Childers. In 1903 Ernie married Norah Grace Greene of Bank House in County Wicklow, making their home in Oldcourt, Wexford. While Ernie was leading his men in the trench warfare in France, his mother Agnes passed away. It's unknown if the news ever reached Ernie. Just two weeks later, he was killed in a German gas attack while entrenched on French soil. Captain Charles Erskine Barton, Royal Irish Rifles, is buried with his fellow soldiers, both Irish and English, at the Terlincthun British Military Cemetery in France. His younger brother Thomas is also buried on French soil with Irish soldiers and English soldiers in a British military cemetery.

Breen, James

Date of Birth
Alias
Brien
Address
Ross Road, Enniscorthy.
Service No.
5387
Rank
Private
Regiment
Irish Guards
1st Battalion
Date of Death
Circumstances of Death
Killed in Action in France during The Battle of Festubert (15–25 May 1915)
Other Biographical Details

The son of the late James, and Margaret Breen née Habernathy, of 66 Ross Road, Enniscorthy. Brother of Thomas Breen (4370). Prior to enlisting on the 18th September 1914, James was employed as a shop assistant at Mr. W.K. Stamp's, Market Square, Enniscorthy. 2nd Division, in which Breen's battalion was serving, lost over 5,000 men.

Breen, Thomas

Date of Birth
Address
4 Patrick's Place, Enniscorthy.
Service No.
4370
Rank
Lance Corporal
Regiment
Manchester Regiment
11th Battalion
Date of Death
Circumstances of Death
Wounded while fighting in the Dardanellas. Died at Sea on hospital ship enroute to Malta
Other Biographical Details

The son of James and Margaret Breen née Habernathy of 66 Ross Rd, Enniscorthy. Brother of James Breen (4387) Irish Guards, 1st Battalion, who was killed less than fours months earlier in France during The Battle of Festubert (15–25 May 1915. Husband of Margaret Breen née Nolan of 4 Patrick's Place, Enniscorthy. Thomas left a window and two children. Remembered on Panel 158 - 170, Helles Memorial, Turkey.

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