L'Derry War Records Made Available

War memorial records for L'Derry have been made public to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the First World War. The records are now available to view at L'Derry City Council's Archive and Genealogy Service and the Public Record Office (PRONI).

The records contain details of soldiers from the city who fought and died during the First World War.

Carál Ní Chuilín, Minister of Culture, said: "The digitisation of the Memorial records will enable people to better access information on the young people, from all backgrounds, who died in the First World War.

"It is important that we all come together to remember and commemorate the historical and significant events which have affected the lives of people and communities here. The launch of this resource will contribute to the Commemoration of the Decade of Centenaries and build upon the positive legacy of the City of Culture Year."

Bernadette Walsh, Archivist from Derry City Council, said: "This represents another successful collaboration with PRONI. For this project, four volumes have been digitised which provide additional information about the soldiers whose names appear on the memorial. The original volumes, which date from 1926, remain with the Derry City Council Archive collection.

"The volumes contain forms which were sent out by the Secretary of the City of Derry War Memorial Committee to the next of kin of the fallen soldiers. The forms were then returned to the Committee prior to the names being included on the War Memorial itself.

"The forms contain details about each soldier, including their rank, regimental number, any military honours they received, and the name and address of their next of kin."

The online archive will be launched at an event in the Tower Museum at 14:30 on Thursday 19 June 2014.

(IT/JP)