Please be advised that the AGM of Balbriggan & District Historical Society will take place at 8pm on Wednesday November 29th 2023 in the Bracken Court Hotel . Refreshments will be served and all are very welcome to attend but only members can vote. A nomination paper will be circulated to members in the next few days.
We are delighted to announce that tomorrow Saturday 11th November four students from Loreto Secondary School will lay a wreath at the Cenotaph remembrance service in Whitehall, London in honour of the Irish soldiers and particularly the soldiers from Balbriggan, who participated and lost their lives in World War I. This will be live streamed tomorrow morning at 10.20 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f46ePA6Xs0U You will be aware that the students presented their talks on World War 1 to our Society last month and we were also involved in judging the early stages of the competition they were participating in.
See full details below provided by Loreto Secondary school:
Kind regardsBernie KellyPRO
Cenotaph Remembrance Service
This Saturday 11th Nov, 4 of our students (in Loreto Balbriggan) will lay a wreath at the Cenotaph remembrance service in Whitehall, London in honour of the Irish soldiers and particularly the soldiers from Balbriggan, who participated and lost their lives in World War I.
In 2014, the Irish Ambassador to Britain at that time, Dan Mulhall, was invited to the service to lay a wreath in memory of the Irish soldiers. This was the first time in over 60 years, since the Republic was declared, that an Irish person has laid a wreath to remember the Irish soldiers.
Our students will make history again, by becoming the first Irish students EVER to lay a wreath at the remembrance service. They were invited to do so because they won a competition in June called the Malcolm Doolin Award. By winning this very prestigious competition, they became the first Irish winners and also the first Irish students EVER to be invited to attend and participate in the wreath laying ceremony at the Cenotaph.
The event will be televised on the BBC and can be live streamed using the following information.
The service is live streamed on the day and is then available on YouTube. It can be can accessed in two ways:
1. Go to the YouTube channel of the Western Front Association
2. At the top you should see “armistice Day 2023”
3. Click notify me… Which should generate an email. It would probably help if they subscribe to the channel
That is the best way, but you can also go via Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/725123776301802
We wish Alex Smyth, Lucy Rooney, Hannah Goode and Ruby Gilmurray the very best of luck for the event. We are so proud of you here in Loreto Balbriggan.
We would also like to thank Gerry White of the Irish Branch of the Western Front Association for all his help and support over the last year. He informed the school initially about the Malcolm Doolin competition and gave advice and assistance with regards to the projects the girls completed.
Thanks to Eve Wilson, the UK Education Trustee of the Western Front Association for her role in guiding us through the competition and the details of the Cenotaph remembrance service.
Thanks also to Bernie Kelly and Idé Ni Liathain of the Balbriggan and District Historical Society who judged the initial projects sent off to the Western Front Association for the competition.
A special thanks also goes to Christopher White of Three Gates Garden Centre and Florist for making the beautiful wreath that the students will bring to London to lay at the Cenotaph.
