109th Anniversary – Battle of the Somme – Somme Association
The Somme Association was established in 1990 to co-ordinate research into Ireland’s part in the First World War, and to ensure that the sacrifices of all those from Ireland who served in the War – and those of their families – would continue to be honoured and remembered.
On 01 July 2025, the Somme Association hosted an Act of Remembrance to commemorate the 109th anniversary of T Councilhe Battle of the Somme, at the 16th (Irish) Division Ginchy Cross Memorial at Guillemont, France.
Attendees included: the Director of the Somme Association Ms Carol Walker MBE; The Irish Ambassador to France H.E. Niall Burgess; local dignitaries including the Mayor of Guillemont, M. Didier Samain; Honorary Colonel of the Royal Irish Regiment, Colonel Pat Dixon; Officer Commanding 2nd Battalion Royal Irish Regiment, Lt Col Wayne Nickels VR; Representatives of the Defence Forces, Brigadier-General Ray Murphy (IE Mil Rep) and Colonel Sean Murphy (IE Dep Mil Rep); and Representatives of Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council; Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council, Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council, Ards & North Down Council, Newry & Mourne Council and Roger Casement Branch ONE
During the period from the Autumn of 1915 to the Autumn of 1918, 28,398 personnel of the 16th (Irish) Division were either killed, wounded, or missing in action.
Following the conclusion of the Battle of Guillemont on 06 September 1916, the Battle of Ginchy took place on 09 September 1916.
The Battle of the Somme continued for two months after the Battle of Ginchy.
The final casualty figures from the Battle of the Somme came to 420,000 British deaths, 200,000 French deaths and 660,000 German deaths.
In 1924, following a request from Major-General Sir William Hickie KCB, former commander of the 16th (Irish) Division, the War Memorial Committee (now styled Irish National War Memorial Trust) allocated a sum of £1,500 for the construction, transportation, and erection of three granite Replica Ginchy Crosses, and the associated dedication ceremonies in Guillemont, Wytscheate, and Robrovo, (Salonica).
One hundred years ago, on 23 August, 1926, the Commander-in-Chief of the French Forces on the Western Front, Marshal Joseph Jacques Césaire Joffre OM GCB, unveiled the 16th (Irish) Division Memorial outside the Church at Guillemont.
The Memorial was dedicated by the Bishop of Amiens, Bishop Charles Albert Lecomte, accompanied by Rev Maurice A. O’Connell DSO.
The attendance included Major-General Sir William Hickie KCB and the INWMT’s Chairman, Sir Dunbar Plunket Barton BART.
The Memorial is a granite replica of the original Ginchy Cross, which was constructed by the11th Battalion, Hampshire Regiment, and erected in February 1917, in a field between Ginchy and Guillemont dedicated to personnel of the 16th (Irish) Division: “To those who fell at the capture of Guillemont and Ginchy, September 1916, RIP”.
The Somme Association was a vital enabler for the Irish National War Memorial Trust’s Replica Ginchy Cross Project, providing the necessary oak timber from its Ulster Memorial Tower in France, which is the Northern Ireland’s National War Memorial.
Prior to the Ceremony at Guillemont on 01 July 2025, the Somme Association also hosted a Service of Remembrance to commemorate the 109th anniversary of The Battle of the Somme at the Ulster Memorial Tower, Thiepval, France.
As at the ceremony at the Guillemont, attendees included the Director of the Somme Association Ms Carol Walker MBE, Northern Ireland and local dignitaries, and representatives of the Royal Irish Regiment and the Defence Forces.
The Ulster Memorial Tower was one of the first memorials to the erected on the Western Front. It commemorates personnel of the 36th (Ulster) Division, and all personnel from Ulster. who died during the First World War
The Tower is a replica of Helen’s Tower on the Clandeboye Estate in Co. Down.
Located on what was the German front line during the Battle of the Somme, the Ulster Memorial Tower is adjacent to Thiepval Wood, the location from which the 36th (Ulster) Division executed its attack on the first day of the Battle of the Somme, on 01 July, 1916.
On the 19th November 1921, the Ulster Memorial Tower was dedicated at a ceremony on the site of the Somme Battle. The dedication ceremony was carried out by Field Marshal Sir Henry Hughes Wilson, Chief of the Imperial General Staff of the British Army. Field Marshal Sir Henry Wilson, was born in Currygrane, County Longford, and was commissioned into the Royal Irish Regiment in 1884.
The Ulster Memorial Tower is open to visitors, Tuesday through Sunday (1000hrs – 1700hrs), and includes a Visitors Centre and café. Visitors have access to the Memorial Room on the bottom floor of the Tower.
Link to photographs of both ceremonies: https://flickr.com/photos/mhit/albums/72177720327416578
