Post by earl on Nov 9, 2007 16:24:14 GMT
Tonight, UTV's Paul Clark joins two families on their journey in search of lost relatives to the battlefields of the First World War in a special commemorative programme, Age Shall Not Weary Them
Thursday, November 08, 2007
History, it is said, is written by the winners. But history in Ireland has been a divisive issue for generations. It all depends on whose story you read. In Ireland, we do not have one history, so, what do we believe? The First World War and remembering it, has always divided Ireland. When the soldiers came home, Lloyd George's government promised them "a land fit for heroes". But while war had ended in Europe, the fighting continued here.
It made the many Ulster ex-servicemen feel they should have been fighting Irish nationalists during the war, and not the Germans. Unionist and nationalist soldiers, who had fought shoulder to shoulder to capture Messines Ridge in 1917, suddenly found themselves at different ends of the political spectrum. They were back where they had been in 1914, on the edge of a civil war.
National Peace Day Celebrations were held in London in July 1919 when 18,000 soldiers took part. Belfast decided to go one step further. The Ulster Unionists organised 36,000 - exactly double that number. And of course 36 couldn't help but bring to mind the 36th (Ulster) Division, and its sacrifice on the first day of the battle of the Somme.
As the ex- servicemen marched past Belfast City Hall, they were reviewed by Viscount French, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and Sir Edward Carson. Unionists had successfully mobilised the war sacrifice in the context of their political agenda.
While unionists and Protestants remembered - and remembered all too well - their commitment to the war, the engagement of Catholics and nationalists - who fought and died alongside them - was glossed over. It did not suit the new independent Ireland and it did not suit the new Northern Ireland either.
Among nationalists in the north, the war was not talked about very much. There were mixed feelings. There was a sense that, perhaps, these men had fought on the wrong side. Following partition, the Catholic Church had refused to take part in the systems of government in Northern Ireland. As a result, Catholic ex-servicemen, who had fought for King and country, suddenly found themselves a third tradition here.
More and more, the north turned in upon itself after partition. In the new Irish Free State, the whole business of commemoration, right from the beginning, was complicated by divided loyalties. For years, that status quo prevailed.
In the south, the memories, along with the medals, were put away and forgotten. In Northern Ireland, the issue was clouded, because, commemoration was seen as a measurement of loyalty to the Crown.
But times have changed. Perhaps it has to do with the passing years. But now, both parts of Ireland have matured, and can look back to that last conflict which directly affected all parts of the island ¿ and remember.
Attitudes had been mellowing, but slowly. As far back as 1966, there was an early sign of a new understanding. That year Northern Ireland marked the 50th anniversary of the Somme, and the Republic celebrated 50 years since the Easter Rising.
The then Taoiseach, Sean Lemass said he was guilty of questioning the motives of those Irishmen who joined the new British armies, formed at the outbreak of the First World War, " ¿ but it must, in their honour, and in fairness to their memory, be said that they were motivated by the highest purpose".
Few listened, in either part of Ireland.
Then in November 1998, the Island of Ireland Peace Park was dedicated at Messines in Belgium, to honour those, from the entire island, who gave their lives in that war. Glen Barr - forever remembered as a leading figure in the loyalist UWC strike of 1974 - and Paddy Harte, a former Fine Gael TD in Donegal, read the following: "As Protestants and Catholics, we apologise for the terrible deeds we have done to each other, and ask forgiveness. "From this sacred shrine of remembrance, where soldiers of all nationalities, creeds and political allegiances were united in death, we appeal to all people in Ireland to help build a peaceful and tolerant society.
"Let us remember the solidarity and trust that developed between Protestant and Catholic soldiers when they served together in these trenches."
Glen Barr has lived out that pledge, through the International School for Peace Studies, which was established at Messines, following the dedication of the Peace Park.
Over the past nine years, countless people from all parts of Ireland have come to the battlefields of Flanders and France, to discover the common ground that existed between unionist and nationalist 90 years ago. Many of them have been young students - the next generation. Others have been families of the dead, who where on their own particular journey of discovery.
In my programme, Age Shall Not Weary Them, I have accompanied two families who ended up on opposite sides of the border following partition. Stewart Buchanan was named after his uncle Stewart, who served in the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers. He was only 19 when he died on the first day of the Battle of the Somme, on July 1, 1916. He came from a unionist family in Donegal, and is still remembered by the Buchanans in Burt, just across the border.
Jean Martin is a great niece of John Doherty. He was a National Irish Volunteer, and a soldier in the Royal Irish Regiment whose relations did not approve when he joined the Army. He died at Loos in northern France, on January 21, 1916. He came from a republican family in Derry, and was written out of their history.
Essentially, the documentary is about reconciliation within Ireland. But it takes on an added dimension which I could never have imagined, when the programme was planned. The Buchanan family were accompanied by their German friend Hans-Juergen Kugler, who now lives in Wicklow, to the battlefields. The visit was a whole new experience for him because this history was not taught at school in Germany immediately after the Second World War.
As Hans-Juergen laid a wreath in the German cemetery at Langemark, all of us who were privileged to be there, discovered that 'Reconciliation through Remembrance' was not just something for Ireland, but extended far beyond our shores.
Age Shall Not Weary Them will be broadcast tonight on UTV at 10pm and repeated on Remembrance Sunday, November 11, at 11.15pm
Thursday, November 08, 2007
History, it is said, is written by the winners. But history in Ireland has been a divisive issue for generations. It all depends on whose story you read. In Ireland, we do not have one history, so, what do we believe? The First World War and remembering it, has always divided Ireland. When the soldiers came home, Lloyd George's government promised them "a land fit for heroes". But while war had ended in Europe, the fighting continued here.
It made the many Ulster ex-servicemen feel they should have been fighting Irish nationalists during the war, and not the Germans. Unionist and nationalist soldiers, who had fought shoulder to shoulder to capture Messines Ridge in 1917, suddenly found themselves at different ends of the political spectrum. They were back where they had been in 1914, on the edge of a civil war.
National Peace Day Celebrations were held in London in July 1919 when 18,000 soldiers took part. Belfast decided to go one step further. The Ulster Unionists organised 36,000 - exactly double that number. And of course 36 couldn't help but bring to mind the 36th (Ulster) Division, and its sacrifice on the first day of the battle of the Somme.
As the ex- servicemen marched past Belfast City Hall, they were reviewed by Viscount French, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and Sir Edward Carson. Unionists had successfully mobilised the war sacrifice in the context of their political agenda.
While unionists and Protestants remembered - and remembered all too well - their commitment to the war, the engagement of Catholics and nationalists - who fought and died alongside them - was glossed over. It did not suit the new independent Ireland and it did not suit the new Northern Ireland either.
Among nationalists in the north, the war was not talked about very much. There were mixed feelings. There was a sense that, perhaps, these men had fought on the wrong side. Following partition, the Catholic Church had refused to take part in the systems of government in Northern Ireland. As a result, Catholic ex-servicemen, who had fought for King and country, suddenly found themselves a third tradition here.
More and more, the north turned in upon itself after partition. In the new Irish Free State, the whole business of commemoration, right from the beginning, was complicated by divided loyalties. For years, that status quo prevailed.
In the south, the memories, along with the medals, were put away and forgotten. In Northern Ireland, the issue was clouded, because, commemoration was seen as a measurement of loyalty to the Crown.
But times have changed. Perhaps it has to do with the passing years. But now, both parts of Ireland have matured, and can look back to that last conflict which directly affected all parts of the island ¿ and remember.
Attitudes had been mellowing, but slowly. As far back as 1966, there was an early sign of a new understanding. That year Northern Ireland marked the 50th anniversary of the Somme, and the Republic celebrated 50 years since the Easter Rising.
The then Taoiseach, Sean Lemass said he was guilty of questioning the motives of those Irishmen who joined the new British armies, formed at the outbreak of the First World War, " ¿ but it must, in their honour, and in fairness to their memory, be said that they were motivated by the highest purpose".
Few listened, in either part of Ireland.
Then in November 1998, the Island of Ireland Peace Park was dedicated at Messines in Belgium, to honour those, from the entire island, who gave their lives in that war. Glen Barr - forever remembered as a leading figure in the loyalist UWC strike of 1974 - and Paddy Harte, a former Fine Gael TD in Donegal, read the following: "As Protestants and Catholics, we apologise for the terrible deeds we have done to each other, and ask forgiveness. "From this sacred shrine of remembrance, where soldiers of all nationalities, creeds and political allegiances were united in death, we appeal to all people in Ireland to help build a peaceful and tolerant society.
"Let us remember the solidarity and trust that developed between Protestant and Catholic soldiers when they served together in these trenches."
Glen Barr has lived out that pledge, through the International School for Peace Studies, which was established at Messines, following the dedication of the Peace Park.
Over the past nine years, countless people from all parts of Ireland have come to the battlefields of Flanders and France, to discover the common ground that existed between unionist and nationalist 90 years ago. Many of them have been young students - the next generation. Others have been families of the dead, who where on their own particular journey of discovery.
In my programme, Age Shall Not Weary Them, I have accompanied two families who ended up on opposite sides of the border following partition. Stewart Buchanan was named after his uncle Stewart, who served in the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers. He was only 19 when he died on the first day of the Battle of the Somme, on July 1, 1916. He came from a unionist family in Donegal, and is still remembered by the Buchanans in Burt, just across the border.
Jean Martin is a great niece of John Doherty. He was a National Irish Volunteer, and a soldier in the Royal Irish Regiment whose relations did not approve when he joined the Army. He died at Loos in northern France, on January 21, 1916. He came from a republican family in Derry, and was written out of their history.
Essentially, the documentary is about reconciliation within Ireland. But it takes on an added dimension which I could never have imagined, when the programme was planned. The Buchanan family were accompanied by their German friend Hans-Juergen Kugler, who now lives in Wicklow, to the battlefields. The visit was a whole new experience for him because this history was not taught at school in Germany immediately after the Second World War.
As Hans-Juergen laid a wreath in the German cemetery at Langemark, all of us who were privileged to be there, discovered that 'Reconciliation through Remembrance' was not just something for Ireland, but extended far beyond our shores.
Age Shall Not Weary Them will be broadcast tonight on UTV at 10pm and repeated on Remembrance Sunday, November 11, at 11.15pm
