The Somme Heritage Centre is a tourist attraction and education centre in
Newtownards,
County Down,
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
. Opened in 1994 the centre promotes
Ireland's role in the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, and especially the role of both
Protestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
and
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
,
unionist and
nationalist
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...
in the war. It focuses on three of the volunteer divisions in Ireland;
*
10th (Irish) Division
The 10th (Irish) Division, was one of the first of Kitchener's New Army K1 Army Group divisions (formed from Kitchener's 'first hundred thousand' new volunteers), authorized on 21 August 1914, after the outbreak of the Great War. It included ...
*
16th (Irish) Division
The 16th (Irish) Division was an infantry division of the British Army, raised for service during World War I. The division was a voluntary 'Service' formation of Lord Kitchener's New Armies, created in Ireland from the ' National Volunteers' ...
*
36th (Ulster) Division
See also
*
Northern Ireland War Memorial
The Northern Ireland War Memorial also called NI War Memorial and War Memorial was opened in 2007 in Talbot Street, Belfast, Northern Ireland. It replaced an earlier building called Memorial House which was located in Waring Street on a site whic ...
*
The Cenotaph, Belfast
External links
The Somme Heritage CentreHomepage
*
ttp://www.secondworldwarni.org Second World War online resource for NI
Buildings and structures in County Down
World War I museums in the United Kingdom
Museums established in 1994
Military and war museums in Northern Ireland
Museums in County Down
Military history of County Down
1994 establishments in Northern Ireland
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