Wednesday, 26 October 2011

Trace your ancestors in World War One

There's a very special day of talks and events planned for next month that will be of particular interest to anyone who has ancestors who fought in World War One.

It's to be held on 12 November at the National Museum of Ireland, Decorative Arts & History, Collins Barracks, Benburb Street, Dublin 7.

There will be help available to help trace Great War relatives, as well as an interesting line-up of sessions in the Lecture Theatre, including:

Snow and mosquitoes – the Connaught Rangers on the Salonika Front 1915-1917
Letters from the Front – a soldier writes home about his experiences during World War One

There will also be a re-enactment depicting how soldiers joined up, demonstrations of the equipment carried and used by them after enlistment, and an advice desk manned by members of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers Association.

While there are no certain statistics, it is thought that about 210,000 Irish men fought in World War 1; some 49,400 of them were killed in action and are commemmorated at the Irish National War Memorial Gardens in Islandbridge, Dublin.

For more information, contact the National Museum Education Section: Tel +353 1 6777444 of see www.museum.ie.