County Antrim War Memorial (Knockagh Monument)
The County Antrim War Memorial is situated on the top of Knockagh Hill, at the southern end of Monument Road, above the town of Greenisland in the south of County Antrim. The site is 935 feet (300m) above sea level on the northern side of Belfast Lough and offers a panoramic view of Belfast and the North Down Coast. It is the largest war memorial in Ulster and takes the form of a suitably proportioned obelisk, a replica of the Wellington Monument in the Phoenix Park, Dublin, except that it is exactly half the height at 110 feet () high and the base is 25 feet (8m) square. The foundation stone of the Memorial on was laid by the Countess of Antrim in 1922. It was initially proposed to record in letters of bronze the names of every one of the fallen from County Antrim, the names were to be arranged alphabetically, irrespective of rank, the only exception being that the services would be kept separate and recorded in the order of seniority on the monument. By mid 1922 about 2000 names had been collected. When the monument was eventually completed no tablets were fitted to it. To give an impression of the memorial’s huge size look at the car at the bottom right of the image Its construction appears to have been beset with financial problems. Although the foundation stone had been laid in 1922, in September 1924 it was reported that ‘work had been resumed.’ A report in September 1926 stated that ‘workmen are presently engaged on the base.’ On his death in 1935 Mr. Barton, the honorary secretary of Knockagh War Memorial Committee, in his will he bequeathed £1,250 towards the cost of its completion. Following a review of the costs that would be involved, Antrim Rural District Council were asked to adopt the monument and pay the additional cost to have it completed, estimated to be £122.
Size: 2831px × 4256px
Location: Knockagh Hill, Monument Road, Greenisland, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, UK
Photo credit: © The Adams Residence / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: antrim, belfast, county, greenisland, hill, ireland, knockagh, memorial, monument, northern, war
