"Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn," wrote poet Laurence Binyon about those who died in the first World War, and now those from Midleton and surrounding areas in East Cork who perished in the conflict are to be remembered with a special memorial wall.
Edward Hallinan, whose uncle Capt Charles Waters died of wounds in East Africa in 1915, is one of those behind the Midleton Wall of Remembrance, which will be located at the Baby Walk Park in the town with support from Cork County Council. He explained its purpose.
“The aim of the project is to record for perpetuity those from the greater Midleton area who gave their lives for all us in World War I, and we are delighted with the support we have got from all the public representatives in the Midleton area, so it’s great the whole community is coming behind us.”
Fellow committee member Tom Walsh, whose uncle, Lieut Surgeon PJ Walsh was killed in Loos in 1915, said the genesis of the project lay in a memorial mass held in Midleton in September 2015 and the huge interest it aroused about those from the area who died in Flanders and elsewhere.
“I produced a little booklet with the names and details of those killed in the war for the memorial mass, and I did up 150 of them and they flew out the door, and I had people coming up looking for copies, so I did another 150 and they disappeared just as quickly,” said Mr Walsh.
‘Huge interest’
“It was evident there was huge interest in those from Midleton who fought in World War I and it was after that, a group came together to try and get a monument to those who died in the war, but we have since expanded it from Midleton town to include the surrounding areas.”
Along with Edward Hallinan, John Potter Cogan, William Murphy and Michael Cahill, Mr Walsh has set about getting details on all those from Midleton and surrounding areas such as Ballycotton, Carrigtwohill, Castlemartyr, Cloyne, Dungourney, Leamlara, Lisgoold and Mogeely who died in the war.
Edward Hallinan said the committee now has some 180 names to date which, along with the men’s age, regiment, place and date of death, will be engraved on the Portland Stone memorial costing €40,000, but they are anxious to hear from anyone else in the area with a family link to the first World War.
“We’re anxious anyone with family involved in World War I would contact us and visit our website to check the details of those we have listed to ensure that there are no inaccuracies or omissions, while any donation, however large or small, will be gratefully accepted and acknowledged.”
For further information, please visit www.midletonww1memorialproject.weebly.com
