Great War connections explored
GREAT War connections between Wexford, Belgium and The Netherlands were explored recently when a group of 45 people from the Flanders Fields Museum visited the town and county as part of a tour of World War One memorials and sites in Ireland.
Members of the group were interested in finding out more about the Wexford people who fought and died on their soil a century ago.
Executive Librarian Jarlath Glynn said the visitors wanted to find out more about Wexford’s most famous soldier Major Willie Redmond who was killed in action near Loker in Belgium in 1917.
Among the places they visited in the town was the library where they viewed the Redmond family exhibition and sites associated with Major Willie’s brother John Redmond - the Redmond Monument and his grave in John’s Gate Street -- and Wexford Jail where Willie Redmond was imprisoned in 1888.
Later in the day, the visitors were hosted to a reception at Clayton Whites’ Hotel by the Mayor, Cllr Jim Moore, who spoke about the links between communities hundreds of miles apart, but united through a shared conflict. Among those in the delegation were Jef Verschoore, the First Deputy Mayor of Ypres and Provincial Councilor of the Province of West Flanders, Piet Chillens, Director of the Flanders Fields Museum and Gilbert Ossieur, Chairman of the Museum.