The ‘Decade of Centenaries’
All-island history competition for primary and postprimary schools
The First World War – A Local History
Title of project:
Category for which you wish
to be entered
Decade of Centenaries
Name(s) of class /
3rd Class, C.B.S. Primary School, Dundalk
group of students
School roll number (this should be provided if possible):
17195M
School address
C.B.S. Primary, Chapel Street, Dundalk, Co.Louth.
Class teacher’s name
Maria Doyle
Contact phone number:
Contact email address:
0868770894
[email protected]
A Decade of
Centenaries
The First World
War – A Local
History
By
3rd Class
C.B.S. Primary School,
Dundalk.
Teacher: Ms. Maria
Doyle
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COVER PHOTO: DUNDALK MUSEUM WEBSITE
INTRODUCTION
Our school is the C.B.S. Primary School, Dundalk. It was founded in 1868 and has been in
the present location for 75 years. Prior to that, it was located in a smaller school building
just to the rear of our school yard.
Our Teacher, Ms. Doyle, wanted to teach us about the First World War, as 2014 marked
100 years since the war began. She also wanted us to explore together how that war affected
our school, our town and, most importantly, our families.
We discovered lots of interesting information and stories along the way and investigated a
local mystery! Although the war was a very sad and awful event, we think that our research
has helped us understand these events and we remember all those from our town who died
or were injured during the war. We couldn’t include everything we learned in this project,
but we’ve included some of the most interesting and important parts of what we learned.
BACKGROUND
To help us understand the background to the war and to understand the conditions the
soldiers lived in while they were “at the Front”, our teacher made a workbook. Here are
some of the topics we studied in the workbook:
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What causes conflict?
What caused conflict in 1914?
What was the Alliance System?
Who shot Franz Ferdinand?
Why did men join up?
What did the trenches look like?
What were the conditions in the trenches like?
We talked a lot about the causes of conflict in our lives and how it isn’t always very clear
why an argument happened or who was to blame. Situations can get out of control quickly
and we think this is what happened in the First World War. Back in 1914, Ireland was still
a part of the British Empire, so when the war broke out many Irishmen decided to go and
fight. Some were already in the British Army. Some wanted an adventure. Some went to
support the cause of Home Rule and some may have gone because they needed the income
or, perhaps, for a mixture of reasons.
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An excerpt from our WW1 Booklet showing our work
on The Causes of Conflict
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THE WAR AT THE FRONT
We focused on two areas of life at the Front. Firstly, we learned about trenches and
secondly, we looked at The Christmas Truce. Ruben, aged 9, tells us more:
TRENCH WARFARE
“In the First World War, soldiers had to stay in trenches. They did not have nice food. The
food soldiers had was bread and biscuits. The trenches were rat infested. They were not
very clean at all. The Germans built better trenches because they used sticks and twigs.
The soldiers made friends although many did not survive. Last year in 2014, it was one
hundred years since the war began. The war was from 1914 to 1918. “
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THE CHRISTMAS TRUCE
“The Christmas Truce started in 1914. It was at different places. Soldiers were exchanging
gifts. They were singing carols, taking photos, shaking hands and playing football. In
some countries, it lasted a few hours and in some, even days. It was 4 months after the war
started. Then they had to go back”.
Karolina, aged 9.
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“It was Christmas Eve. The soldiers got presents from their families. It was very quiet and
calm. Suddenly, the British soldiers head the Germans sing Silent Night. The next morning,
the British soldiers saw a German coming out of his trench. For the first time, the soldiers
had great fun and for the rest of the day there was no fighting”.
Oskar, aged 8.
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FRANCIS LEDWIDGE
Although he was not from our town, Francis Ledwidge was from not very far away from
us in Slane, Co. Meath. We learned a lot about him and his life. We learned that he was a
poet and wrote several poems about the war. We learned that he was also an Irish
Republican. He joined the Inniskilling Fusiliers when the war broke out and fought in
Flanders. While he was there, he wrote some poems about what it was like to fight in the
war. We were very sad when we found out that he had died. Our teacher had visited his
grave a couple of times. She showed us some photographs of his gravestone and of a
memorial which was put up in the spot where he was killed. There is now a path named
after him and we thought that it was nice to see the Irish flag flying at that spot.
(Interestingly, we noticed that the plaque outside his house in Slane says he died in France,
when actually, he died in Belgium).
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(Photograph of Francis Ledwidge is from Wikipedia.com)
Ms. Doyle took these photos when she visited the grave of Francis Ledwidge in Ypres.
Francis Ledwidge’s grave
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The path in Flanders named in his honour.
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The Irish Flag flies over the place where Ledwidge was
killed.
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The plaque outside Francis Ledwidge’s
house near Slane, Co. Meath.
Source : www.francisledwidge.com
Our teacher read us two of Ledwidge’s poems, ‘Lament for Thomas McDonagh’ and ‘In
France’.
Source : www.poemhunter.com
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Source: www.poemhunter.com
Every pupil in the class wrote their own acrostic poem called ‘TRENCH’. Below is
Ruben’s poem.
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S.S. DUNDALK
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Source: www.independent.com
Source: www.flintshirewarmemorials.com
On the 14th October 1918, the S.S. Dundalk was torpedoed by a German U-boat as it sailed
from Liverpool to Dundalk. Only one of the pupils in the class had ever heard of this ship
but we were interested to find out more. During our research, we discovered that two
children in our class had family members who were killed when the boat sank. Here are
their stories.
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CONOR’S STORY
“My Name is Conor Bromley. My
teacher taught us about the sinking
of the S.S. Dundalk. It was
torpedoed by a German submarine
not long before the end of the war.
In our local St. Patrick’s
Cathedral, there is a plaque about
it. When we went to see the plaque,
I saw the name Edward Johnston
on it. After school, I asked my
Grandad if he was related to him.
My Grandad’s surname is
Johnston. He told me that Edward
Johnston was his Great-Great
Granduncle. I jumped with
excitement! My Grandad showed
me his family tree with Edward
Johnston on it. I found a photo of
Edward Johnston on the internet
and some information about him.
He was Chief Engineer on the S.S.
Dundalk. My teacher looked
through the old roll books for our
school and I couldn’t believe it when she found him! He had been a pupil in the C.B.S. in
1800s. “
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Edward Johnston
Source: www.irishmariners.ie
AMY’S STORY
“Hi. My name is Amy Tuite. A long time ago, my Grandad had shown me a picture of a
boat which he had in his attic. He said it was called the S.S. Dundalk. I didn’t really
think about it again until we started learning about World War 1. We went to St.
Patrick’s Cathedral to see a plaque in memory of the people killed on the S.S.
Dundalk. I told my Grandad about what we were learning. He told me that my GreatGreat-Great Grandfather, James Tuite, had been onboard the boat when it was
torpedoed, but that he didn’t die. I was glad to hear that! Grandad showed me a
booklet which he has had since he was at a memorial mass for those who were on the
S.S. Dundalk. Grandad also showed me a medal for a man called Peter Matthews who
was also related to us. I brought it in to show my teacher. She said it is called a
Widow’s Penny. Unfortunately, Peter Mathews died on the S.S. Dundalk. He lived on
the street right next to our school and, most likely, was a past pupil. At school, we
looked his name up in a book that teacher has called ‘The Unreturned Army’. It says
when he died he left a widow and seven children. That is very sad.”
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TUITE, Cattleman, JAMES, From St Brigid’s Terrace, Dundalk. Survivor of the
sinking of SS Dundalk by U-Boat Attack, 14 October 1918.
(Dundalk Democrat, 26 October 1918)
(Source: “The Unreturned Army” by Donal Hall (2005))
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Source: “The Unreturned Army” by Donal Hall (2005)
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Amy and Jake showing the
Widow’s Penny for Peter
Matthews and a booklet from
the ecumenical service for
those who died as a result of
the sinking of the S.S.
Dundalk held in 1998.
ĒABHA’S STORY
“My name is Ēabha. I found out that my Great-Great-Great Grandfather fought in World
War 1. His name was Patrick Joseph Martin and he was born in Dundalk. He joined the
British Army at a young age. He left Dunalk with his brother, John, and went to Belfast.
From there, they took the boat to England. He joined the Royal Irish Fusiliers 8th
Battalion. He was sent to fight in France. While in Calais, he was shot in the eye and
had to return home. He told my Granny all the story when she was growing up with him.
My Granny gave me two photographs of him. The first one was taken before the war. In
the second photograph, he is wearing his uniform. You can see that he is missing an eye.
I’m glad he survived the war.”
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Information about Patrick Martin as part of our class display.
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Patrick Martin before the he went to war.
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Patrick Martin in his army uniform. You can see from the
photograph that he has lost his right eye.
ARTEFACTS
“As part of this project, I was delighted to be able to source some items from the period to
be able to show the children. A local man very kindly lent us a wonderful original Queen
Mary Box which was sent to the British troops at Christmas 1914. I was also lent some
original cap badges from Irish Regiments. The children were enthralled when they saw and
these items.” Ms. M .Doyle
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Karolina and Joseph are showing an original Queen Mary
box. They wonder what it may have contained when it was
received by a soldier on the Western Front in 1914.
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Hayley, Karli and Faolān are showing some original cap badges.
TALE OF THE WORLD WAR 1 MEDAL
During the time we were learning about the war, an interesting article appeared in a local
newspaper. According to the article in The Argus, a local man had handed in to the
newspaper office a First World War medal which he had found 60 years ago. It had the
name of the soldier, Private Patrick Collins, on it but very little else. The journalist had
found out some extra information about Patrick Collins, such as when he was killed and
where he was buried. The journalist wanted any descendants of Patrick Collins to come
forward to claim the medal. We decided to investigate further. Here, Sarah tells the story.
PTE. PATRICK COLLINS
Patrick Collins was the owner of the lost World War 1 medal. It was found by a 72 year
old man when he was 12. It was found on Patrick Street. The medal said “Great War for
Civilization 1914-1919”. Sarah tells us more:
“Patrick Collins was the owner of the World War 1 medal. It was found by a 72 year old
man when he was 12. The medal said ‘Great War for Civilization 1914-1919’. Patrick
Collins died on May 9th 1915 and is buried in Ypres Reservation Cemetery, Belgium. My
teacher asked the journalist to see if we could borrow the medal. So we got the medal and
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my teacher contacted an historian, Donal Hall. He found out loads more about Patrick
Collins which he sent to my teacher, Mrs. Doyle. He sent a copy of a letter that Patrick
sent to his aunt Bridget Devlin from the Western Front. In that letter, Patrick mentions
other people in his family. Donal Hall also sent us a copy of Patrick’s Will. He left
everything he had to his Aunt. We know now that Patrick was in the army before the war
broke out. He landed in France on March 18 th 1918 and was killed 9 weeks later at the
Battle of Aubers Ridge. He was 31 years old. The 1901 and 1911 Census show that he
lived on the Castletown Road in Dundalk. He was unmarried and had no children. We
wonder if there are any Devlins still living in Dundalk related to Patrick.”
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James and Austeja are showing the service medal of Pte. P. Collins.
Our class display can be seen in the background.
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CONCLUSION
This was our first time learning about the First World War and we found it very
interesting. We particular enjoyed learning about people in our own families and their
involvement in the war. It was a very bad thing to happen and awful that so many people
died or were injured. However, we think it is good to remember them.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
British Library website http://www.bl.uk/world-war-one
BBC Schools website http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/0/ww1/
Carroll, F (2014). “Tale of the lost WW1 medal” The Argus (19th November 2014)
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Census of Ireland 1901/1911 and Census fragments and substitutes, 1821-51
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/
County Louth Ireland Genealogical Services. The Returned Army – County Louth
Servicemen in the Great War 1914-1918 (2013).
http://www.jbhall.freeservers.com/the_returned_army_-_introduction.htm
County Museum Dundalk website http://www.dundalkmuseum.ie/
Francis Ledwidge Museum website: http://www.francisledwidge.com/
Hall, D (2005). “The Unreturned Army: County Louth in the Great War 1914-1918”.
Dundalk: Dundealgan Press
Irish Mariners (2012). Irish Merchant Seamen 1918-1921. Available from:
http://www.irishmariners.ie/johnston-e.php
Kavanagh, P (2006). “Sinking of ship a tragedy for town”. Dundalk Democrat (18th
October 2006)
National Archives of Ireland (NAI/2002/119) Nuncupative or Missing Will of Patrick
Collins
Peace Education Network – Teach Peace Pack http://www.quaker.org.uk/files/TeachPeace-Assembly-4-Truce.pdf
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