Bringing Them Home
Sligo’s Great War Dead 1914 - 1918
Foreword by Tommie Gorman
A GUNSHOT IN SARAJEVO
A WORLD SPIRALLED INTO CHAOS.
For the young men of Sligo, Ireland that distant event marked the beginning of a journey that would claim countless lives and forever alter their homeland. This remarkable book uncovers the stories of nearly 700 men who answered the call to serve in the Allied Armed Forces during The Great War, leaving behind their families and the familiar shores of Sligo.
Through meticulously researched details - name, ages, family backgrounds and local connections - it paints a vivid picture of the community’s sacrifice and the heavy toll of war.
These men left of distant battlefields, many never to return, but this book brings them back to the place they once called home, ensuring that their memory endures and their service is honoured.
Simone Hickey’s book, the research for which gave rise to the Sligo Armistice Day Commemoration in 2018, and subsequently to the County Sligo Great War Memorial Garden - launched in April 2022 is available for purchase through this site.
the County Sligo Great War Memorial Garden
Public Dedication Ceremony | Friday April 28th 2023, 12 noon
Commemorative Video by Joe Hunt
Photo essay by Steve Rogers
Public Dedication Ceremony Official Programme
Lest Sligo Forgets gratefully acknowledges The Glass House Hotel who were the main sponsors of the dedication ceremony.
Lead Funding Partners: European Union’s Programme for Peace and Reconciliation (PEACE IV), Sligo Local Community Development Committee (LCDC), Atlantic Technical University, Sligo Tourist Development Association, Sligo County Council’s Decade of Centenaries Programme (Supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture , Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media under the Decade of Centenaries 2012 - 2023 initiative), The British Legion Republic of Ireland Fund and Hamilton Young Architects.
The project also received significant sponsorship and benefactor contributions from supporters in County Sligo and from around the globe. All Sponsors alongside hundreds of personal Name Benefactors of the project are listed here, on our Benefactors Page.
OCEAN FM COVERAGE OF THE PUBLIC DEDICATION CEREMONY
Click on the link above to hear coverage by Ocean FM of the Public Dedication Ceremony.
County Sligo Great War Memorial Garden
stone Panel Layouts
Click on an image to enlarge
There are eight stone panels with names inscribed on both sides.
Accordingly the first stone displays Achonry / Ballisodare on one side and Ballymote on the second side.
The bottom section of the final stone will be reserved for any additional names as they come to light in the future.
Become a county Sligo Great War memorial garden benefactor
133 of the 621 names on the Memorial Garden Sentinel Stones now have Personal Name Benefactors - Thank you.
9 0f the 46 Towns / Civil Parishes listed on the Memorial Sentinel Stones also have been sponsored - Thank YOu
As construction work is completed on the memorial garden please consider becoming a personal Name Benefactor for one of the 621 Sligo people named on the Sentinel Stones, or becoming the sponsor of your Town / Civic Parish.
This will assist us in covering a range of outstanding additional costs arising from COVID 19 delays on the project.
You can also make a simple donation of any amount to the Memorial Garden Campaign by clicking on this link
Answering the call / Soldiers wills from the front line
An estimated 200,000 Irishmen fought in the Great War. It is thought that 50,000 of these volunteers were killed.
Many reasons have been attributed to the motivation behind the departure of Irishmen to the front lines. Military tradition, sense of duty, adventure, religion, politics, peer pressure and unemployment were all contributing factors.
In this gallery we juxtapose the call to arms, which encouraged so many young Irish men to head off to war, with the last will and testament that many of them wrote, often immediately before going into battle. The recruitment posters are from the period of the Great War, and all wills shown were written by men from Sligo who subsequently died in the conflict.
LEST SLIGO FORGETS / PEACE 4 PROGRAMME RESEARCH GROUP
| David Adams | Michael Conlon | Brendan Fox | Redmond Gillan | Ann Gilmartin | Malcolm Hamilton | Simone Hickey |
| Tommy Higgins | Barbara Hosie | Michael Kirby | David Lawlor | Richard Lyons | Tam McDonald | Ann Murray | Brian Scanlon |
| Paul Wilson |
memorial garden project COMMITTEE
| Tommy Higgins - Chair | Simone Hickey - Secretary | Richard Lyons - Treasurer |
| Michael Kirby | David Lawlor | Malcolm Hamilton |