Introduction
Somme Museum
In 1994 the Somme Association established the Somme Heritage Centre at Conlig, between Newtownards and Bangor in Co. Down. The Centre is a museum, providing exhibitions, displays and information, and an institution for the study and interpretation of Ireland’s contribution to the First World War, with particular reference to the Battle of the Somme. It was built with the support of European and local funding combined with a major fund raising effort, supported by the public, to commemorate the involvement of the 36th (Ulster) Division, 16th (Irish) Division and 10th (Irish) Division in the First World War. Click here for visitor information.
One year after the end of the First World War, a decision was taken to build a memorial on the site where so many men of the 36th (Ulster) Division lost their lives on the 1st and 2nd July 1916. The Ulster Memorial Tower was the first memorial built on the Western Front and is built on land given to the Government of Northern Ireland by the French in 1921. The Tower is a replica of Helen’s Tower on the Clandeboye Estate in Co. Down. Click here for visitor information.
In 2004 the Association purchased Thiepval Wood, with the support of funding provided by the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure. Thiepval Wood faces the Ulster Memorial Towerand is the location from where the 36th (Ulster) Division initiated its attack on the German Lines on the Schwaben Redoubt on the 1st July 1916. Click here for visitor information.