One of the bloodiest battles in human history was the Battle of the Somme.
It was one of the most infamous chapters in a conflict which saw the human efficiency for mass killing reach grisly new heights, the Somme Offensive was fought between 1st July and 18th November 1916, and saw over one million men killed or wounded.
On the first day of the battle alone, the British Army suffered over 58,000 casualties, of whom over 19,000 lost their lives.
Twenty-eight of those killed were from County Cavan, including Private Edwin Sherriff from Cootehill, aged just 19 years. Over the course of the First World War between 35,000 and 49,000 Irish people died, whilst countless others were wounded.
The Trench Experience
To commemorate the Battle of Somme 1916 and based on original manuals from Royal Irish Fusiliers the trench recreated at the Cavan County Museum is 350 metres in length.
It is the biggest of its kind on main land Europe. Although trench commemorates WW1, they specifically commemorate the Battle of Somme 1916.
To give us an idea how bad the war was and to learn more about life in the trenches during WW1 here:
An indication of the scale of the trench is that it took 6,000 sandbags to build the walls, and it is the largest of its kind, open to the public, here or in Britain.
The trench reproduces the experience of the Royal Irish Rifles who fought in just such a trench at the Somme in 1916.
Credits: Information supplied by Savina Donohoe, Curator of Cavan County Museum. You can learn more about the museum here: http://www.cavanmuseum.ie/
