Memorial to Patrick is still in the family

A NEXT- OF-KIN Memorial Plaque, which has passed through the family tree to Wexford town man Charlie Webster, belonged to Private Patrick Donnelly who died during the Great War.

Mr Webster came into possession of the plaque, pictured right, which passed down through the generations of the family. It was first presented to Patrick Donnelly’s parents, before being passed on through the family, through Charlie’s grandfather Robert Webster, his father William and, finally, to Charlie himself.

With the help of the new wexfordgreatwardead.ie website, some further information was garnered about Private Patrick Donnelly, who was a member of the First Battalion of the Royal Munster Fusiliers, service number 18085. According to records, he had previously been with the Royal Irish Regiment.

Private Donnelly was born on December 10, 1885, in St Mark’s in Newtownbarry, as Bunclody was called, where he was in business as a cattle dealer.

The son of Michael and Anne Donnelly, he was 32 when he was killed in action in Northern France, during the German Spring Offensive, of ‘Kaiserschlacht’ (Kaiser’s Battle) which saw mobile warfare return to the Western Front after years of stalemate. Private Donnelly died on March 22, 1918, the day after one of the bloodiest days of the war when it came to German casualties.

Private Donnelly has no known grave but is listed on Panel 78 and 79 on the Pozieres Memorial in the Somme region of France.