Chairman Commemorates Somme Fallen at Remembrance Event

Royal Irish Rifles pictured on July 1st 1916

On Wednesday 27 July 2016 the Courts Centenary Commemoration Committee hosted an event to remember members of the Irish legal profession who died during the Battle of the Somme in 1916 in the Supreme Court, Dublin.

Gerry McAlinden QC, Chairman of the Bar of Northern Ireland, joined representatives of the Bar of Ireland, and the Law Society of Ireland to remember barristers and solicitors who enlisted during the First World War. The Chairman’s speech primarily focused on the story of the 36^th Ulster Division and honoured the memory of those who died, North and South.

Gerry McAlinden QC stated;

“I am honoured to speak at this important event honouring the memory of those who made the ultimate sacrifice during the battle of the Somme in 1916. To this day there are tributes to these brave soldiers throughout legal buildings within Northern Ireland, namely Londonderry Courthouse, Crumlin Road Courthouse and the Royal Courts of Justice.”

He added;

“At the beginning of my Chairmanship of the Bar of Northern Ireland in September 2014, I paid tribute to all the members of the Irish Bar who had died in World War 1 on the 100^th anniversary of the start of that awful conflict. I now pay specific tribute to the two Barristers and two Solicitors whose names appear on the Memorials in the Great Hall of the Royal Courts of Justice in Belfast who died one hundred years ago at the Somme.”

The Battle of the Somme started on July 1^st 1916 and lasted until November. This single battle had a marked effect on overall casualty figures and epitomised the futility of trench warfare. Members of the Northern Circuits of the Bar who died in the battle where Thomas J. Atkinson, James K. Macgregor Greer MC, James Proctor and William Magee Crozier.