unit 04 example 05

Module 3 Unit 04

Timeline

  • 1919

    January 18th

    Formal opening of the Paris Peace Conference.

    January 21st

    First meeting of Dáil Éireann in Dublin.

    IRA ambush in Soloheadbeg: beginning of the War of Independence.

  • 1920

    H.S. Morrison, Modern Ulster: Its Character, Customs, Politics and Industries; completed in January.

    January

    Recruiting begins of ex-servicemen (later known as Black and Tans) to support police against the IRA.

    February

    Judge W.C. Benet, “Scots and Ulster-Scots in the Southern States, Part II,” The Caledonian, Vol. XIX, N° X.

    February 25th

    Government of Ireland Bill introduced in the House of Commons.

    June

    Riots in Derry/Londonderry.

    July

    Riots in Belfast; violence flares up again in August. 

    Tensions remain high in the city during the period 1920-1924.

    November 1st

    Enrolment of the Ulster Special Constabulary begins.

    November 21st

    Bloody Sunday: IRA assassinates 14 British secret service agents in Dublin; Black and Tans open fire on a GAA match in Croke Park, Dublin, killing 12.

    December 23rd

    Government of Ireland Act partitions Ireland, creating Northern Ireland (six counties, with a Parliament in Belfast), Southern Ireland (26 counties, with a Parliament in Dublin) and a Council of Ireland.

  • 1921

    February 4th

    Carson resigns as leader of the Ulster unionists; he is replaced by Sir James Craig.

    May 13th

    All candidates for the Southern Ireland Parliament returned unopposed; Sinn Féin takes 124 of the 128 seats; Sinn Féin members boycott the Southern Ireland Parliament and meet as the Second Dáil (August 1921).

    May 24th

    In elections to Northern Ireland Parliament: unionists win 40 seats, Sinn Féin 6 and nationalists 6.

    June 7th

    Sir James Craig appointed Prime Minister of Northern Ireland.

    June 8th

    Leonard Raven-Hill cartoon, “Starting the settlement,” in Punch. 

    June 22nd

    Opening of Northern Ireland Parliament by King George V.

    July 11th

    Truce begins in the War of Independence.

    October 11th

    Anglo-Irish Conference in London between the British Government and Dáil delegates; Craig does not attend.

    November 19th

    Opening of the Ulster Tower at Thiepval.

    “The Ulster War Memorial,” in The Northern Whig.

    December 6th

    Anglo-Irish Treaty signed in London; Irish Free State is given “dominion status”; Northern Ireland is free to opt out; a Boundary Commission to review the border between the two parts of Ireland.

  • 1922

    January

    On-going IRA campaign.

    February - March

    Sectarian violence in Belfast and elsewhere.

    Ronald McNeill’s, Ulster’s Stand for Union, completed in February.

    April 7th

    Civil Authorities (Special Powers) Act gives the Belfast Government wide-ranging powers, e.g. detention without trial.

    May 31st

    Legislation creating the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) passed.

    June 28th

    Civil War begins between pro- and anti-Treaty republicans.

    September 11th

    Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) abolishes proportional representation in local government elections.

    October 23rd

    Andrew Bonar Law (Conservative) becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

    December 7th

    Northern Ireland Parliament opts out of Irish Free State.

    December 9th

    The office of the Governor of Northern Ireland, established.

  • 1923

    May 24th

    Civil War ends.

    June 22nd

    Education Act (Northern Ireland) establishes system of non-denominational schools.

  • 1924

    November 4th

    Stanley Baldwin (Conservative) becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

    November 5th

    Boundary Commission begins work under the chairmanship of Mr Justice Richard Feetham.

  • 1925

    April 3rd

    General election in Northern Ireland; nationalists decide to end policy of abstention.

    November 7th

    Proposals of the Boundary Commission leaked in the Morning Post.

    November 20th

    Bab M’Keen, “The Boundary,” in The Ballymena Observer.

    December 3rd

    Agreement between London, Belfast and Dublin; the existing border between the Free State and Northern Ireland confirmed; the idea of a Council of Ireland abandoned; additional financial terms agreed.

    December 18th

    Bab M’Keen, “The Boundary Buried,” in The Ballymena Observer.

  • 1932

    November 16th

    Parliament Buildings, at Stormont, officially opened by the Prince of Wales.

  • 1948

    Hugh Shearman, Anglo-Irish Relations.

Glossary
Government of Ireland Act 1920
example 05

Thiepval Opening

“This little bit of transplanted Ulster […] under the shadow of Helen’s Tower”

The 36th (Ulster) Division that had been created from the ranks of the UVF suffered heavy losses at the Battle of the Somme on July 1st 1916. Contemporary reports speak of some 5,500 officers and men killed, wounded or missing on the first day of the attack. This event had a devastating effect on families throughout the province of Ulster. 

Four days after the Armistice was signed on 11th November 1918, Carson wrote the following letter to the local press:

Sir,—The end of the war immediately recalls to our minds the gallant deeds of the Ulster Division, and particularly those who have lost their lives in Flanders. 

I suggest that a monument be erected on a suitable site on the battlefield to commemorate for all time the heroic deeds of those men, and to that end that a Fund be started in which all sympathisers may participate, any balance to be devoted to the U.V.F. Patriotic Fund. 

I shall be glad if any readers who desire to be associated with this memorial will forward their contributions to Lieut.-Colonel Sir Craig, Bart., D.L., M.P., at the Old Town Hall, having kindly consented to act as Honorary Treasurer.—Yours truly. EDWARD CARSON, Old Town Hall, Belfast, 15th November, 1918.

The 36th was at the very heart of unionism’s conception of loyalty to their British identity. Given the circumstances in which this letter was written, it is quite normal Carson should focus on “the gallant deeds of the Ulster Division” and the particularly heavy losses that had been suffered on the western front. 

However, it is important to remember that Ulster’s contribution to the British war effort went well beyond the iconic sacrifice at the Somme. Many Ulstermen, from both traditions, joined regiments other than those that made up the 36th. This was notably the case for Scottish regiments such as the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and 4th Seaforth Highlanders, who had a recruiting office in Belfast. The decision to join a Scottish regiment reflected the importance of on-going family links with Scotland. Many men from the nationalist community also joined the ranks of 10th and 16th (Irish) Divisions formed at the beginning of the war. 

The Ulster Tower in Thiepval has today become a key site commemorating all of Ulster’s war dead in the First World War.

IMAGE: Ulster Tower, Thiepval, June 2019 (Wesley Hutchinson).

Module 3 Unit 04

Timeline

  • 1919

    January 18th

    Formal opening of the Paris Peace Conference.

    January 21st

    First meeting of Dáil Éireann in Dublin.

    IRA ambush in Soloheadbeg: beginning of the War of Independence.

  • 1920

    H.S. Morrison, Modern Ulster: Its Character, Customs, Politics and Industries; completed in January.

    January

    Recruiting begins of ex-servicemen (later known as Black and Tans) to support police against the IRA.

    February

    Judge W.C. Benet, “Scots and Ulster-Scots in the Southern States, Part II,” The Caledonian, Vol. XIX, N° X.

    February 25th

    Government of Ireland Bill introduced in the House of Commons.

    June

    Riots in Derry/Londonderry.

    July

    Riots in Belfast; violence flares up again in August. 

    Tensions remain high in the city during the period 1920-1924.

    November 1st

    Enrolment of the Ulster Special Constabulary begins.

    November 21st

    Bloody Sunday: IRA assassinates 14 British secret service agents in Dublin; Black and Tans open fire on a GAA match in Croke Park, Dublin, killing 12.

    December 23rd

    Government of Ireland Act partitions Ireland, creating Northern Ireland (six counties, with a Parliament in Belfast), Southern Ireland (26 counties, with a Parliament in Dublin) and a Council of Ireland.

  • 1921

    February 4th

    Carson resigns as leader of the Ulster unionists; he is replaced by Sir James Craig.

    May 13th

    All candidates for the Southern Ireland Parliament returned unopposed; Sinn Féin takes 124 of the 128 seats; Sinn Féin members boycott the Southern Ireland Parliament and meet as the Second Dáil (August 1921).

    May 24th

    In elections to Northern Ireland Parliament: unionists win 40 seats, Sinn Féin 6 and nationalists 6.

    June 7th

    Sir James Craig appointed Prime Minister of Northern Ireland.

    June 8th

    Leonard Raven-Hill cartoon, “Starting the settlement,” in Punch. 

    June 22nd

    Opening of Northern Ireland Parliament by King George V.

    July 11th

    Truce begins in the War of Independence.

    October 11th

    Anglo-Irish Conference in London between the British Government and Dáil delegates; Craig does not attend.

    November 19th

    Opening of the Ulster Tower at Thiepval.

    “The Ulster War Memorial,” in The Northern Whig.

    December 6th

    Anglo-Irish Treaty signed in London; Irish Free State is given “dominion status”; Northern Ireland is free to opt out; a Boundary Commission to review the border between the two parts of Ireland.

  • 1922

    January

    On-going IRA campaign.

    February - March

    Sectarian violence in Belfast and elsewhere.

    Ronald McNeill’s, Ulster’s Stand for Union, completed in February.

    April 7th

    Civil Authorities (Special Powers) Act gives the Belfast Government wide-ranging powers, e.g. detention without trial.

    May 31st

    Legislation creating the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) passed.

    June 28th

    Civil War begins between pro- and anti-Treaty republicans.

    September 11th

    Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) abolishes proportional representation in local government elections.

    October 23rd

    Andrew Bonar Law (Conservative) becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

    December 7th

    Northern Ireland Parliament opts out of Irish Free State.

    December 9th

    The office of the Governor of Northern Ireland, established.

  • 1923

    May 24th

    Civil War ends.

    June 22nd

    Education Act (Northern Ireland) establishes system of non-denominational schools.

  • 1924

    November 4th

    Stanley Baldwin (Conservative) becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

    November 5th

    Boundary Commission begins work under the chairmanship of Mr Justice Richard Feetham.

  • 1925

    April 3rd

    General election in Northern Ireland; nationalists decide to end policy of abstention.

    November 7th

    Proposals of the Boundary Commission leaked in the Morning Post.

    November 20th

    Bab M’Keen, “The Boundary,” in The Ballymena Observer.

    December 3rd

    Agreement between London, Belfast and Dublin; the existing border between the Free State and Northern Ireland confirmed; the idea of a Council of Ireland abandoned; additional financial terms agreed.

    December 18th

    Bab M’Keen, “The Boundary Buried,” in The Ballymena Observer.

  • 1932

    November 16th

    Parliament Buildings, at Stormont, officially opened by the Prince of Wales.

  • 1948

    Hugh Shearman, Anglo-Irish Relations.

Glossary
Government of Ireland Act 1920
example 05

Thiepval Opening

“This little bit of transplanted Ulster […] under the shadow of Helen’s Tower”

In October 1919, Craig attended an exhibition of models for designs for war memorials organised by the Royal Academy in London. Disappointed by what he saw, he suggested that, rather than using any of the government-approved models, the committee should come up with some Ulster landmark that would give the project a more recognisably Ulster identity. 

One of the possible models was Helen’s Tower at Clandeboye in County Down. Helen’s Tower, designed by the Scottish architect, William Burn, had been built in 1861 by the future first Marquis of Dufferin and Ava (see Module 2) as a tribute to his mother, Lady Dufferin, some six years before her death. Many of the men of the 36th (Ulster) Division, especially those from Belfast and neighbouring areas, had done their basic training in a camp that had been opened at the outbreak of the war at Clandeboye in the grounds of the Dufferin estate. 

Such connections were important when it came to making the final choice for the monument. However, it is likely that there was more to the choice than this. It is no coincidence that people like Craig, himself an Ulster Scot (see Example 3 in this Module), should have chosen as the preferred model a building that was built in what is known as the Scottish baronial style. This style took its inspiration from the Scottish tower houses of the late Middle Ages. Victorian architects played with features like battlements, gables, turrets, conical towers and steep roofs that conjured up ideas of rugged independence and a romantic past. The style was very much in fashion from the mid nineteenth century across the United Kingdom. Balmoral Castle in Scotland, built for Queen Victoria, or Stormont Castle in Dundonald, Co. Down, are well-known examples of this architectural style. 

But again there is more to it than just a question of which style happens to be in or out of fashion. Opting for Helen’s Tower as a model for the Ulster Tower in Thiepval reflects fundamental cultural choices that run deep into the history of the region. The dominant culture of the region in which the original Helen’s Tower was built is unmistakably Scots. As we have seen, the north of the Ards Peninsula was one of the first parts of Ulster to be settled by Scots at the very beginning of the 17th century. It is at the heart of what is often seen as a “cultural province” that extends from Lowland Scotland into the north-eastern counties of Ulster. These settlements formed the nucleus and defined the characteristics of what is imagined as a distinct community. It is precisely this space that is seen as being behind the identity from which the new Northern Ireland emerged. Deciding to build a replica of this particular tower in France to the memory of Ulster’s war dead is a way to underline the importance of this heritage. The tower can therefore be seen as a fundamental, conscious statement of cultural identity. 

IMAGE: Helen's Tower By Ross, CC BY-SA 2.0: https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9154608.

Module 3 Unit 04

Timeline

  • 1919

    January 18th

    Formal opening of the Paris Peace Conference.

    January 21st

    First meeting of Dáil Éireann in Dublin.

    IRA ambush in Soloheadbeg: beginning of the War of Independence.

  • 1920

    H.S. Morrison, Modern Ulster: Its Character, Customs, Politics and Industries; completed in January.

    January

    Recruiting begins of ex-servicemen (later known as Black and Tans) to support police against the IRA.

    February

    Judge W.C. Benet, “Scots and Ulster-Scots in the Southern States, Part II,” The Caledonian, Vol. XIX, N° X.

    February 25th

    Government of Ireland Bill introduced in the House of Commons.

    June

    Riots in Derry/Londonderry.

    July

    Riots in Belfast; violence flares up again in August. 

    Tensions remain high in the city during the period 1920-1924.

    November 1st

    Enrolment of the Ulster Special Constabulary begins.

    November 21st

    Bloody Sunday: IRA assassinates 14 British secret service agents in Dublin; Black and Tans open fire on a GAA match in Croke Park, Dublin, killing 12.

    December 23rd

    Government of Ireland Act partitions Ireland, creating Northern Ireland (six counties, with a Parliament in Belfast), Southern Ireland (26 counties, with a Parliament in Dublin) and a Council of Ireland.

  • 1921

    February 4th

    Carson resigns as leader of the Ulster unionists; he is replaced by Sir James Craig.

    May 13th

    All candidates for the Southern Ireland Parliament returned unopposed; Sinn Féin takes 124 of the 128 seats; Sinn Féin members boycott the Southern Ireland Parliament and meet as the Second Dáil (August 1921).

    May 24th

    In elections to Northern Ireland Parliament: unionists win 40 seats, Sinn Féin 6 and nationalists 6.

    June 7th

    Sir James Craig appointed Prime Minister of Northern Ireland.

    June 8th

    Leonard Raven-Hill cartoon, “Starting the settlement,” in Punch. 

    June 22nd

    Opening of Northern Ireland Parliament by King George V.

    July 11th

    Truce begins in the War of Independence.

    October 11th

    Anglo-Irish Conference in London between the British Government and Dáil delegates; Craig does not attend.

    November 19th

    Opening of the Ulster Tower at Thiepval.

    “The Ulster War Memorial,” in The Northern Whig.

    December 6th

    Anglo-Irish Treaty signed in London; Irish Free State is given “dominion status”; Northern Ireland is free to opt out; a Boundary Commission to review the border between the two parts of Ireland.

  • 1922

    January

    On-going IRA campaign.

    February - March

    Sectarian violence in Belfast and elsewhere.

    Ronald McNeill’s, Ulster’s Stand for Union, completed in February.

    April 7th

    Civil Authorities (Special Powers) Act gives the Belfast Government wide-ranging powers, e.g. detention without trial.

    May 31st

    Legislation creating the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) passed.

    June 28th

    Civil War begins between pro- and anti-Treaty republicans.

    September 11th

    Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) abolishes proportional representation in local government elections.

    October 23rd

    Andrew Bonar Law (Conservative) becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

    December 7th

    Northern Ireland Parliament opts out of Irish Free State.

    December 9th

    The office of the Governor of Northern Ireland, established.

  • 1923

    May 24th

    Civil War ends.

    June 22nd

    Education Act (Northern Ireland) establishes system of non-denominational schools.

  • 1924

    November 4th

    Stanley Baldwin (Conservative) becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

    November 5th

    Boundary Commission begins work under the chairmanship of Mr Justice Richard Feetham.

  • 1925

    April 3rd

    General election in Northern Ireland; nationalists decide to end policy of abstention.

    November 7th

    Proposals of the Boundary Commission leaked in the Morning Post.

    November 20th

    Bab M’Keen, “The Boundary,” in The Ballymena Observer.

    December 3rd

    Agreement between London, Belfast and Dublin; the existing border between the Free State and Northern Ireland confirmed; the idea of a Council of Ireland abandoned; additional financial terms agreed.

    December 18th

    Bab M’Keen, “The Boundary Buried,” in The Ballymena Observer.

  • 1932

    November 16th

    Parliament Buildings, at Stormont, officially opened by the Prince of Wales.

  • 1948

    Hugh Shearman, Anglo-Irish Relations.

Glossary
Government of Ireland Act 1920
example 05

Thiepval Opening

“This little bit of transplanted Ulster […] under the shadow of Helen’s Tower”

This is all the more important in that the Ulster Tower was to be the first permanent image that the new Northern Ireland projected on to the international stage (see black & white photo opposite). That image of a stark Scottish tower house, perfectly designed for self-defence, emerging out of a desolate landscape and surmounted by the Union Jack, is in many ways a perfect image of the embattled state of Ulster unionism in November 1921 when Northern Ireland’s very existence was still hanging in the balance. 

The Ulster Tower was officially opened on 19th November 1921 by Field Marshall Sir Henry Wilson, Chief of the Imperial General Staff. Although they had been the prime movers behind the project, neither Carson nor Craig were present at the ceremony, both claiming to have been indisposed at the last minute. The opening came as the British Government was in talks with Sinn Féin following the War of Independence. These talks were to lead, only a few weeks later, to the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty which created the Free State, while allowing Northern Ireland to retain its present status. However, many in the unionist camp were unsure of this outcome. They did not trust the Government to have unionist Ulster’s best interests at heart. In the words of the Belfast Telegraph, 21 November 1921:

Today the British Cabinet is closeted with some of the men who took part in that shocking betrayal of their country [the Easter Rising of 1916], and are bartering the rights of those who fought for them to those who fought against them. They seem to think that by so doing peace can be brought to Ireland […] We wish the Prime Minister better company.

Such mistrust might explain why Carson and Craig preferred to stay in Belfast instead of going over to France to be present at the official opening of the tower.

Meanwhile, the ceremony went ahead in the presence of relatives of the dead being commemorated by the monument. The regional and national press were there in force to record the events of the day. The following extract comes from an article in the Northern Whig, entitled, “The Ulster War Memorial,” published on 21 November 1921.

But doubtless the last thoughts of many of the heroes who fell that day were of the quiet home scenes, such as that which is commanded by the Clandeboye Monument, reproduced on the ‘famed Picard field’ where they fell. To many of them indeed “Helen’s Tower” had been a familiar landmark from boyhood. It met the gaze of the Belfast boys on their frequent train trips to Bangor. Not a man from County Down and few from Antrim or Derry or Armagh but had seen the tower and heard or read of its story.

So this little bit of Ulster in Picardy seems particularly appropriate as a monument to the fallen – far more appropriate than would a conventional ‘victory’ trophy with sculptured battle scenes upon its faces and groups of dead and engines of death clustered around its base.

To many of the pilgrims of the party the familiar outline of the tower seemed as grateful as is the first glimpse of M’Arts’s Fort to the Belfastian returning to his native city after a long sojourn abroad.

From the summit a wide tract of country is commanded, and some of the travellers fancied that they could recognise in parts of the area features reminding them of Down and Antrim and Derry and Armagh […]

Much as we sympathised with them we could not of course enter into the hearts of the bereaved widows and parents and friends among our pilgrims who looked from the tower at the cemeteries dotting the slopes and tried to fix the spots where their loved ones lay. But it seemed to us that it must be soothing to them to know that, though buried on the field of glory where they fell, their soldier heroes are sleeping in this little bit of transplanted Ulster and under the shadow of Helen’s Tower awaiting the great Reveille.

IMAGE: Opening of The Ulster Tower 19th November 1921. Belfast Telegraph, November 22nd, 1921.

Module 3 Unit 04

Timeline

  • 1919

    January 18th

    Formal opening of the Paris Peace Conference.

    January 21st

    First meeting of Dáil Éireann in Dublin.

    IRA ambush in Soloheadbeg: beginning of the War of Independence.

  • 1920

    H.S. Morrison, Modern Ulster: Its Character, Customs, Politics and Industries; completed in January.

    January

    Recruiting begins of ex-servicemen (later known as Black and Tans) to support police against the IRA.

    February

    Judge W.C. Benet, “Scots and Ulster-Scots in the Southern States, Part II,” The Caledonian, Vol. XIX, N° X.

    February 25th

    Government of Ireland Bill introduced in the House of Commons.

    June

    Riots in Derry/Londonderry.

    July

    Riots in Belfast; violence flares up again in August. 

    Tensions remain high in the city during the period 1920-1924.

    November 1st

    Enrolment of the Ulster Special Constabulary begins.

    November 21st

    Bloody Sunday: IRA assassinates 14 British secret service agents in Dublin; Black and Tans open fire on a GAA match in Croke Park, Dublin, killing 12.

    December 23rd

    Government of Ireland Act partitions Ireland, creating Northern Ireland (six counties, with a Parliament in Belfast), Southern Ireland (26 counties, with a Parliament in Dublin) and a Council of Ireland.

  • 1921

    February 4th

    Carson resigns as leader of the Ulster unionists; he is replaced by Sir James Craig.

    May 13th

    All candidates for the Southern Ireland Parliament returned unopposed; Sinn Féin takes 124 of the 128 seats; Sinn Féin members boycott the Southern Ireland Parliament and meet as the Second Dáil (August 1921).

    May 24th

    In elections to Northern Ireland Parliament: unionists win 40 seats, Sinn Féin 6 and nationalists 6.

    June 7th

    Sir James Craig appointed Prime Minister of Northern Ireland.

    June 8th

    Leonard Raven-Hill cartoon, “Starting the settlement,” in Punch. 

    June 22nd

    Opening of Northern Ireland Parliament by King George V.

    July 11th

    Truce begins in the War of Independence.

    October 11th

    Anglo-Irish Conference in London between the British Government and Dáil delegates; Craig does not attend.

    November 19th

    Opening of the Ulster Tower at Thiepval.

    “The Ulster War Memorial,” in The Northern Whig.

    December 6th

    Anglo-Irish Treaty signed in London; Irish Free State is given “dominion status”; Northern Ireland is free to opt out; a Boundary Commission to review the border between the two parts of Ireland.

  • 1922

    January

    On-going IRA campaign.

    February - March

    Sectarian violence in Belfast and elsewhere.

    Ronald McNeill’s, Ulster’s Stand for Union, completed in February.

    April 7th

    Civil Authorities (Special Powers) Act gives the Belfast Government wide-ranging powers, e.g. detention without trial.

    May 31st

    Legislation creating the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) passed.

    June 28th

    Civil War begins between pro- and anti-Treaty republicans.

    September 11th

    Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) abolishes proportional representation in local government elections.

    October 23rd

    Andrew Bonar Law (Conservative) becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

    December 7th

    Northern Ireland Parliament opts out of Irish Free State.

    December 9th

    The office of the Governor of Northern Ireland, established.

  • 1923

    May 24th

    Civil War ends.

    June 22nd

    Education Act (Northern Ireland) establishes system of non-denominational schools.

  • 1924

    November 4th

    Stanley Baldwin (Conservative) becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

    November 5th

    Boundary Commission begins work under the chairmanship of Mr Justice Richard Feetham.

  • 1925

    April 3rd

    General election in Northern Ireland; nationalists decide to end policy of abstention.

    November 7th

    Proposals of the Boundary Commission leaked in the Morning Post.

    November 20th

    Bab M’Keen, “The Boundary,” in The Ballymena Observer.

    December 3rd

    Agreement between London, Belfast and Dublin; the existing border between the Free State and Northern Ireland confirmed; the idea of a Council of Ireland abandoned; additional financial terms agreed.

    December 18th

    Bab M’Keen, “The Boundary Buried,” in The Ballymena Observer.

  • 1932

    November 16th

    Parliament Buildings, at Stormont, officially opened by the Prince of Wales.

  • 1948

    Hugh Shearman, Anglo-Irish Relations.

Glossary
Government of Ireland Act 1920
example 05

Thiepval Opening

“This little bit of transplanted Ulster […] under the shadow of Helen’s Tower”

The passage is unusual for a newspaper report supposedly designed to inform its readers about events at the official opening of the tower. It operates at a radically different level, focusing on a fundamental aspect of the reality behind the Ulster Tower – the way in which the tower replicates Ulster in France. 

The whole passage is about seeing and imagining. 

It talks about the way Helen’s Tower had been “a familiar landmark” that had “met the gaze of the Belfast boys on their frequent train trips to Bangor.” When the author says, “Not a man from County Down and few from Antrim or Derry or Armagh but had seen the tower and heard or read of its story,” he is saying that this is an instantly recognizable icon to everyone in what happens to be the four predominantly unionist counties that make up the core of Protestant, unionist Northern Ireland. 

When these people arrive in France, they see this familiar tower “reproduced on the ‘famed Picard field’.” These “pilgrims” – for this is a holy site – are “grateful” to see “the familiar outline of the tower.” They find this reassuring; it makes them feel at home in what for most will be a strange environment. The reason for this is that the tower is a “little bit of Ulster in Picardy.” 

But this feeling of familiarity is not confined to the tower itself. When the people climb the tower and look out “from the summit” over the landscape “some of the travellers fancied that they could recognize in parts of the area features reminding them of Down and Antrim and Derry and Armagh.” What is happening here is of considerable interest. The Ulster landscape emerges out of the battlefields of Picardy. But, once again, it is a specific Ulster landscape. By reiterating the four counties already mentioned, the author, without actually saying it, leads the reader to understand that this is a resolutely unionist space.

What they see, or rather what they imagine they see, reflects what those Ulstermen who died here imagined they saw the day of the Battle of the Somme - the “last thoughts of many of the heroes […] were of the quiet home scenes, such as that which is commanded by the Clandeboye Monument.” Just like the “pilgrims,” the young men who died on this devastated landscape imagine for a second that they are back at home in their familiar surroundings. The author is saying that they are indeed at home since they are now “sleeping in this little bit of transplanted Ulster and under the shadow of Helen’s Tower awaiting the great Reveille.”

PHOTO: Plaque in the Memorial Chamber, at the base of the Ulster Tower, Thiepval, June 2019 (Wesley Hutchinson).