Hibernian United Service Club’s WW1 Memorial Unveiling Event at The National Museum of Ireland
On Thursday 14 May the Minister of State Simon Harris will be visiting the Decorative Arts and History branch of the National Museum of Ireland (NMI) in Collins Barracks to unveil the Hibernian United Service Club WWI memorial which is currently on display at the Soldiers & Chiefs Exhibition.
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED ON BEHALF OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF IRELAND
PREAS RÁITEAS THAR CEANN ARD-MHÚSAEM NA hÉIREANN
13th May 2015
On Thursday 14 May the Minister of State Simon Harris will be visiting the Decorative Arts and History branch of the National Museum of Ireland (NMI) in Collins Barracks to unveil the Hibernian United Service Club WWI memorial which is currently on display at the Soldiers & Chiefs Exhibition.
Hibernian United Service Club’s WW1 Memorial
The Hibernian United Service Club was founded in 1832 at the Royal Barracks as a private club exclusively for officers in the British Navy and Army stationed in Ireland. Because of the military nature of the club, many of its members fought during WW1. The memorial was erected to commemorate the ten members who were killed, including Victoria Cross recipient Richard Annesley West. West’s family members will be present at the ceremony as well as the British Ambassador in Dublin, HE Mr. Dominick Chilcott.
British born of Irish parents, West joined the army in 1899 to serve in the Boer War. After the end of the war he remained in South Africa where he met his wife, the actress Maude Aston (whose real surname was Cushing and aunt of the British actor Peter Cushing). The couple went back to England at the outbreak of WW1, and West enlisted again in the army, first in an Irish regiment, the North Irish Horse, and later on he joined the Tank Corps.
Richard West and his wife
He received several decorations during the war. However, all of them are eclipsed by his posthumous Victoria Cross that he won for courageously leading his men to victory under heavy German gunfire on August 21 and again on September 2, 1918, when he died on the battlefield near Courcelles, France.
From 1846 until it merged with the Stephen’s Green Club in 2003, the Club was located on no. 8 St. Stephen’s Green North. This memorial was saved from the old club’s building in 2007 thanks to the efforts of club members Graham Heather, Harry Robinson and Larry Holmes and was reassembled by the dedicated OPW staff at Collins Barracks.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Lar Joye, Curator of Flags, Firearms, Swords, Transport and Military History Collections, Art and Industry Division, National Museum of Ireland
T: 01-6486446 | M: 0868605678| E: ljoye@museum.ie
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