Welcome to Wexford Great War Dead

During the Great War, 1914 – 1918, a large number of men from Co. Wexford fought and died in the conflict which has been described as  'the war to end all wars'. This conflict resulted in a catastrophic loss of life and had dire and lasting consequences for generations across Europe.

In Wexford, the local newspapers of the period are full of the obituaries of those men and women, military and civilian, who died as a result of the war.

Until recently, it was believed that just over 500 men from Co. Wexford, who had enlisted in the British military, died fighting in the land war on the Western Front, Middle East and at Gallipoli. Research now shows this number drastically understates the loss of life for County Wexford.

Due to advances in digital archiving and on-line research tools, we now have access to Naval Service, Royal Flying Corp and Mercantile Marine records, as well as digitised birth, marriage and death records for the period. These advances in technology and research methods allow us to develop a fuller picture of the devastation caused to families and communities in County Wexford by The Great War.

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Where have all the young men gone?


When we scan the Census forms
In twenty twenty one and wonder,
Where have all the young men gone?
Then we remember.  Ypres, Mons,
And the Somme.

They went to war a hundred years ago
Brothers, Fathers, and Uncles, we never grew to know.
Where have all the young men gone?
They lay at rest in Ypres, Mons,
And the Somme

The Volunteers answered Redmond's call,
When Britain's back, was against the  wall.
Never returned to where they came from
Now at peace in Ypres, Mons,
And the Somme.

Today crowds who stand and silently wait, for the
Last post and reveille, at the Mennin Gate.
Read men’s names and the regiments they came from
Who lie in graves, unmarked, at Ypres, Mons
And the Somme.

That mournful sound as buglers play.
The Last Post in Mennin at the end of day.
Their memory in towns and villages will live on.
As they rest quietly now, In Gallipolli, Ypres, Mons,
And the Somme.

To commemorate the hundredth anniversary of the end of The Great War  1914--1918. In Memory of. Pte Thomas Byrne. 1900. 6th Bn. Royal Irish Regt. Killed in Action at Passchendale, Ypres. 5th August 1917.
Tom O'Byrne, (Nephew) August 2018.

Died on July 5th

Cane, Michael

Address
Enniscorthy
Service No.
10656
Rank
Private
Regiment
Royal Irish Regiment
2nd Battalion
Date of Death
Circumstances of Death
Killed in Action France and Flanders
Other Biographical Details
Son of Mrs Margaret Cane of Milehouse, Enniscorthy

Chapman, Edward

Date of Birth
Address
Tagoat
Service No.
9539
Rank
Private
Regiment
Royal Irish Regiment
2nd Battalion
Date of Death
Circumstances of Death
Killed in Action France and Flanders
Other Biographical Details
Son of Patrick and Mary Chapman née Furlong

Fanning, John

Date of Birth
Address
The Shannon, Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford
Service No.
6508
Rank
Private
Regiment
Royal Irish Regiment
2nd Battalion
Date of Death
Circumstances of Death
Killed in action in France
Other Biographical Details

Son of James Fanning. Widow later Mrs Catherine Dagg nee Kinsella, Shannon, Enniscorthy.

Whelan, James

Date of Birth
Service No.
10514
Rank
Rifleman
Regiment
Royal Irish Rifles
1st Battalion
Date of Death
Circumstances of Death
Died from pneumonia, at 3rd Canadian General Hospital
Other Biographical Details
The son of Patrick and Mary Whelan née Nolan. His father was a smith’s helper. The 1901 Census shows the family at 21 Temperance Row, Wexford. His father was then an ambulance driver. Children were Stasia (18), Myles (15), Mary Ellen (13), Denis (10), Esther (8), James, and Patrick (3). His mother died from bronchitis at Back Street, Wexford, 23.2.1910. By 1911 his father, a general labourer, was at 17 Duke Street, Wexford, and had another son Peter (6). James was then a messenger boy. He was stationed at Portobello Barracks, Dublin, when he married Anne Emmett at St Paul’s Church, Dublin, 3.7.1915. Widow at 19 Hendrick Street, Dublin.

Born on July 5th

Sample Records

Leigh, Edward

Head and shoulders portrait from press cutting.
Date of Birth
Address
Rosegarland, Co. Wexford
Rank
Major
Regiment
Hampshire Regiment
2nd Battalion
Medals
Date of Death
Circumstances of Death
Killed in action whilst in command of the battalion near Krithia, Gallipoli
Other Biographical Details

Son of the late Francis Augustine Leigh, J.P., D.L., formerly 10th Hussars and Mrs Augustine Leigh née Perrier of Rosegarland, Co. Wexford. He was educated at St. Columba's College, Co. Dublin. Husband of Mary Meade Leigh, only daughter of Sir John Buchanan, L.L.D., of Clareinch, Claremont, Cape Peninsula, South Africa. Served in the South African Campaign and in India, Malta and the British West Indies. He left one son, Edward Buchanan Leigh, born at Vacoas, Mauritius on the 19th June, 1913.

Awarded Queen's South Africa Medal with three clasps and King's South Africa Medal with two clasps.

Breen, Thomas

Date of Birth
Address
4 Patrick's Place, Enniscorthy.
Service No.
4370
Rank
Lance Corporal
Regiment
Manchester Regiment
11th Battalion
Date of Death
Circumstances of Death
Wounded while fighting in the Dardanellas. Died at Sea on hospital ship enroute to Malta
Other Biographical Details

The son of James and Margaret Breen née Habernathy of 66 Ross Rd, Enniscorthy. Brother of James Breen (4387) Irish Guards, 1st Battalion, who was killed less than fours months earlier in France during The Battle of Festubert (15–25 May 1915. Husband of Margaret Breen née Nolan of 4 Patrick's Place, Enniscorthy. Thomas left a window and two children. Remembered on Panel 158 - 170, Helles Memorial, Turkey.

Murphy, Thomas

Date of Birth
Address
Barrack Street, Wexford
Service No.
9929
Rank
Private
Regiment
Royal Irish Regiment
1st Battalion
Date of Death
Circumstances of Death
Killed in Action in the battle of St Julien, France
Other Biographical Details

Son of James Murphy, Barrack Street , Wexford. James was known as one of the best boxers in the army. Lord Kitchener wrote to James parents conveying the sympathy of the King and Queen on the death of Private Murphy. His brother Patrick, a seaman on board HMS Orbita, was drowned on the 31st of August 1915 at only 21 years of age.
Private James Murphy has no known grave but is commemorated on panel 33 of the Menin Gate, Ypres, Belgium.

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