Picture credit: Diarmuid Greene/Fusionshooters
THE ‘Stand Up and Fight, Limerick’s Military Tradition from the Wild Geese to Gallipoli’ exhibition is now open to the public in Limerick City Hall on Merchant’s Quay.
The exhibition documents the social and economic impact that military service had on Limerick, from Tait’s Factory, which clothed armies for decades, including the Confederates in the American Civil War and the British army, to the development of marching bands and organised sports, particularly rugby.
‘Stand Up and Fight’ is a Limerick Museum and Archives project supported by the Limerick Branch of the Royal British Legion, the Royal Munster Fusiliers Association and the Irish Naval Association.
The exhibition launch coincides with a number of important anniversaries such as the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Lusitania.
An oar from one of the Lusitania’s lifeboats, is on display; Jacqui Hayes, archivist, Limerick City and County Council explained: “An oar from the ship was washed up by the tides on the west coast near Kilkee and was donated to Limerick Museum in August 1916.”
Exactly 100 years ago this week the 1st Battalion of the Royal Munster Fusiliers was fighting in the Gallipoli campaign, which claimed the lives of 75 Limerick men, including eight natives of the village of Coonagh who died when their ship was torpedoed.
Meanwhile, the 2nd Battalion of the Munsters was fighting on the Western Front, where the blessing of the Munsters by Fr Francis Gleeson took place on the 8th May and was depicted in the famous painting, reproduced in this exhibition.
The exhibition uses material from the Limerick Museum collection, and has also been greatly supplemented by objects loaned by families, from Lee Enfield rifles to tobacco tins.
About 80 per cent of the objects are on loan from family members and collectors.
The exhibition was created and assembled by the Limerick Museum and Archives Project team of Jacqui Hayes, Brian Hodkinson, Dr Matthew Potter, Sharon Slater, and William O’Neill. They were greatly assisted by Paddy Brosnahan, of the Royal Munster Fusiliers Association and Garret Ryan of the Irish Naval Association.
The Stand Up and Fight exhibition will be on display until December and is open daily, Monday to Friday, from 9am to 5pm.
