The 16th Irish Division
The centre also contains a computerised casualties database with information on Irish Regiments and details on the individuals who fell at the Somme. The database is being expanded to cover other battles.
Somme Heritage Centre
| The Somme Heritage Centre is located on the north of the Ards Peninsula between Newtownards and Bangor on the A21. Opened to commemorate the services of almost a quarter of a million Irish men and women who during the first world war served in the armed forces and factories, many of whom lost their life. |
The 16th Irish Division |
The Centre enables the visitor to share in the
experience of these men and women who set aside their old differences,
Protestant and Catholic, Unionist and Nationalist to fight alongside
each other in a common cause. The centre has many artefacts on display
including uniforms, weapons, and personal items. The centre also contains a computerised casualties database with information on Irish Regiments and details on the individuals who fell at the Somme. The database is being expanded to cover other battles. |
 The Front Line |
The "Front Line Experience" gives you the opportunity to make your way along the trenches in the early light of the 1st July 1916. Look out across no mans land with the troops before they go over the top and experience the events of the battle through the eyes of the soldiers who took part as the Front Line shakes under the tremendous artillery barrage of the Battle of the Somme. |  Men of the 36 Ulster Division |
 The Ulster Memorial Tower Thiepval France |
The 36th Ulster Division was formed largely from
the Protestant and Unionist Ulster Volunteer Force, raised to oppose the
imposition of Home Rule. The Division played a leading part in the
Battle of the Somme and lost 5,500 men in the first two days of July in
1916 in capturing the supposedly impregnable Schwaben Redoubt at
Thiepval. The 16th Irish Division drew its recruits mainly from the Nationalist Volunteers, raised to fight for independence for Irish self-government. Its volunteers mainly roman Catholic from all over Ireland included many MPs. The Division distinguished itself in the capture of the villages of Guillemont and Ginchy, in the later stages of the Somme battle losing some 4,000 men. |