Changes on cards for Tralee war memorial

The wording on a new monument to soldiers from a British army garrison based in Tralee, Co Kerry, who died in the First World War, may be changed to help resolve a local row.

Members of the Royal Munster Fusiliers are honoured in a €3,500 monument erected by Kerry County Council near Ballymullen Barracks, where they had been based.

However, members of Tralee Municipal Authority decided officials should talk to the sculptor, Maurice Roche, with a view to including all Tralee people who died in the war and who may have been in other regiments.

A council spokesperson yesterday said the local view was that the monument “should be inclusive of all from Tralee” who lost their lives.

The monument, erected in Christ the King Park, contains a gold-coloured inscription: “Cuimhnimis. Let Us Remember. The Royal Munster Fusiliers. 1914-1918.”

The lettering is topped with the emblem from the Royal Munster Fusiliers’ cap badge.

The municipal authority contacted Mr Roche to assess the feasibility of making the necessary alterations.

Around 3,000 Munster fusiliers lost their lives in the conflict, including 240 from Kerry.