stephenh Posted 31 March , 2003 Share Posted 31 March , 2003 A tricky one this, I`m wondering can forum members help me with. I live approx 30 miles north of Dublin City and I`m trying to find out names of local men from 3 towns Balbriggan, Skerries and Rush who fell or even served during the Great War. The problems here in Ireland regarding commemorations is that there are virtually none. War memorials are virtually non existent, Libraries provide little or no information and I cant seem to come across a roll of honour let alone for Dublin or even the rest of Ireland. Basically what I need to know is,what do I do or where do I go to get any sort information on local heroes, I`m stumped. Considering over 50,000 Irishmen died during the conflict there must be some way to find as i`ve mentioned those that have fallen from the above named towns. I hope that some member may be able to point me in the right direction and really get me started. Thanking you in advance Stephen Higgins Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Brown Posted 31 March , 2003 Share Posted 31 March , 2003 When the Commonwealth War Graves Commission became computerised they could provide , for a fee , a report listing all casualties from a home town , or a ship or same surname etc. Having said that I have looked at their site but cannot find that information. It would be worth a direct enquiry to see if they could supply a report for the three towns you mention. Tracking down newspaper archives would help but you mention that your libraries cannot help - were these local studies libraries? Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon_Fielding Posted 31 March , 2003 Share Posted 31 March , 2003 Hi Stephen, I have the Soldiers Died in the Great War CD ROM and would be quite happy to run off a list of the relevant soldiers to get you started. The CD can list casualties by place of birth, place of enlistment and place of residence, and is fully searchable. It does contain errors but it would give you a starting point to follow up with the CWGC. If I remember rightly their 'hometown' printout service only works if the soldier / serviceman has some personal details listed - it won't list them if they haven't... Contact me off list with a snail mail address if you'd like the printouts. Good luck and best wishes, Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris_Baker Posted 31 March , 2003 Share Posted 31 March , 2003 Stephen Great minds thinking alike here. I see I posted this just after Simon!! I've done a quick search using the "Soldiers Died in the Great War" CDROM. 26 soldiers who died are listed as having residence in Balbriggan. There are also 26 who were born in Balbriggan, and they are not all the same men. There are 8 men residents of Skerries, and 6 born there. A search on Rush gave me 386 men who were born there, but the search is not intelligent and gives men from Rushden, Rushmere, etc. These were for NCOs and rankers. It would not surprise me if some officers came from the area too. If you email or PM me with your address I'll send you a print of all the details. SDITGW is certainly not complete, but it would give you something of a fioundation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenwoodman Posted 31 March , 2003 Share Posted 31 March , 2003 Local newspapers are perhaps your best bet after Soldiers Died. Your research would inevitably lead you to them if you found a list of names, as they are (certainly in England) the best source for information about the men serving and those who died. It is a long grind, looking through the papers from 1914-1921 (roughly), but it can be a goldmine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conor Dodd Posted 31 March , 2003 Share Posted 31 March , 2003 Drop me an E-Mail with any RDF's you have and I will help you out also any Skins I will see what I can do you can also go to Ireland's Memorial Records they have copies in the National Library and a few libraries. You can be suprised how much there is out there for you to go through how much information do you have on the men so far etc. ? Conor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CROONAERT Posted 1 April , 2003 Share Posted 1 April , 2003 When the Commonwealth War Graves Commission became computerised they could provide , for a fee , a report listing all casualties from a home town , or a ship or same surname etc. Having said that I have looked at their site but cannot find that information. It would be worth a direct enquiry to see if they could supply a report for the three towns you mention. I've put a similar (direct)enquiry to the CWGC recently,and think that this service is now free of charge. (They didn't charge me anyway,even though I offered!). Dave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Brown Posted 1 April , 2003 Share Posted 1 April , 2003 I've put a similar (direct)enquiry to the CWGC recently,and think that this service is now free of charge. (They didn't charge me anyway,even though I offered!). Thanks Dave. The report I requested was for a regiment and this was back in 1996. SDGW is fine but a home town report would also include naval and any other category not included on SDGW. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stephenh Posted 1 April , 2003 Author Share Posted 1 April , 2003 Thanks to everybody who has helped me to get started on this local research. Your friendly advice and expertise has proved invaluable to me and I cant wait to get started. Regards Stephen ps Conor I will email you with regard to libraries etc which are available to research in Dublin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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