There will be a commemorative event today in Kilkenny’s Peace Park, to mark ANZAC day worldwide.
ANZAC Day remembers the sacrifice of those who served in the Australian and New Zealand Armed Corps in the First World War, with a particular focus on the disastrous landing at Gallipoli in 1915.
At the event today, which begins at 4.30, there will be poetry, music, and speeches from representatives of the Australian, New Zealand, and Turkish Embassies.
Chairman of the Kilkenny Great War Memorial Committee Donal Croghan says that there were also local lives lost during the landings.
“For example, in Kilkenny, there are recorded 29 dead, and in County Carlow there are 18, they’re just the ones that died, there are a lot of other soldiers that would have come home with the physical and mental scars of war.”
He then noted that “we would particularly like to see people from Australia and New Zealand, its a very big and important day, and that day is the 25th, which is Friday, a very important day in the calendar of those countries. To have somewhere to go to pay their respects on Anzac day in the South East and in Kilkenny is really good to have.”
