Korean Lament

Mark McConnell – one of the veterans who visited last week – recited his very moving poem ‘Korean Lament’ last Thursday at the unveiling of the memorial for all the Irish who died during the war. Pictures courtesy of Tom Coyner, see more of his pictures from last week here

Korean Lament

There’s blood on the hills of Korea, it’s the blood of the brave and the true,
where the nations they battled together, ‘neath banners of white and pale blue,
as they marched over the fields of Korea to the hills where the enemy lay,
they remembered the Brigadier’s orders, those hills must be taken today.
And forward they went into battle, with faces unsmiling, and stern,
for they knew as they charged up that hillside there were many would never return.
Some thought of their wives and their mothers and some of their sweethearts so fair
and some as they plodded and stumbled were softly saying this prayer,
‘There’s blood on the hills in Korea, it’s the blood of the freedom we love,
may our names live in glory forever, and our souls rest in heaven above.’
And boys, when you go back to Belfast, when this War is over and done,
just think of the ones left behind you out in the Korean sun.

Coverage of the memorial for Irish people who died in the Korean war

Good to see some coverage of the war memorial popping up in Ireland

Korea Times

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/opinon/2013/04/351_134798.html

The Journal

http://www.thejournal.ie/memorial-for-irish-war-heroes-erected-in-south-korea-885180-Apr2013/

The Irish Times

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/recalling-role-of-irish-soldiers-in-tragic-korean-war-battle-of-happy-valley-1.1372892

JoongAng Daily

http://koreajoongangdaily.joinsmsn.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=2970619

Article by Andrew Salmon in the Wall Street Journal

http://blogs.wsj.com/korearealtime/2013/04/25/aging-warriors-return-to-armageddon-north-of-seoul/

Korea Times

http://koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2013/04/113_134892.html

Slugger O’Toole

http://sluggerotoole.com/2013/05/02/british-irish-flags-at-new-korean-war-memorial-for-ulster-troops/

(we’ll add more links as find them)

2 Irish films in the Green International Film Festival in Seoul

It’s great to see that 2 Irish films will be shown in the Green International Film Festival in Seoul which takes place in May. The 2 films are

• Atrophy – a short film directed by Mairtin deBarra which is about a a farmer losing his way of life after his land is purchased the National Roads Authority with a to a compulsory purchase order. This is screening in the CGV in Yongsan on Fri May 10th at 12:00 and Tue May 14th at 14:30

• Irish folk furniture– this short film by Tony Donoghue has already won an award at the Sundance film festival. It uses animation to cover the history of farmhouse furniture in Tipperary and is really worth seeing. This is screening in the CGV in Yongsan on Sat May 11th at 13:30 and Mon May 13th at 19:30

Thanks to the Dublin Terrace for hosting the veterans fundraiser

We had a great Sun afternoon/evening at the veterans fundraiser and we just want to say thanks to everyone involved – in particular Andrew Salmon, Dara Sheahan (who was not dissuaded by the lack of an amp), Olivia Houck and all the other great musicians who played. Special thanks to Mr Lee of the Dublin Terrace who donated 2,000,000 w to the fund for the veterans visit (as well is donating many of the raffle prices, his premises etc). This money will be used by the Somme Association to alleviate the costs associated with the trip here. Here is a picture of Mr Lee presenting the donation to Carol Walker of the Somme Association and Trevor Ross, colour sergeant of the Royal Irish Regiment (successor to the Royal Ulster Rifles).

Person of the night was Ben Delahunty, 88 years old and a veteran of both D-Day and the Korean War.

You can see more photos from the night on Facebook

The 11 veterans from Ireland arrived safely on Monday and their week long visit has been going well. To find out more about their visit follow the Irish Embassy in Korea on Twitter.

Andrew Salmon’s books

If you enjoyed the talk by Andrew Salmon yesterday at the fundraiser for the visiting Irish veterans that was held at the Dublin Terrace then you should check out the two books he has written about the Korean War.

 

To the Last Round: The Epic British Stand on the Imjin River, Korea 1951 – this book is about the 3 day battle on the Imjin river during which the Gloster Regiment was reduced from 750 to 50 men.

 

 

 

 

Scorched Earth, Black Snow: Britain and Australia in the Korean War, 1950 – an account of British and Austrailian involvement in the earlier part of the war, covering everything from the Pusan breakout to the introduction of the Chinese to the war.

 

You  can leep up to date with Andrew on his own website 

Additional info about the Irish veterans fundraiser next Sunday

We just want to give you some additional info about the fundraiser for the visiting Irish veterans of Korean war that we are running in the Dublin Terrace in Gangnam next Sun April 21 from 16:00 – 20:00.

• we are really happy to announce that Andrew Salmon will be giving a talk titled “The fighting Irish of the Korean War”. This 40 minute talk will be an account of the experience of the 1st Battalion Royal Ulster Rifles (RUR) and 8th Kings Royal Irish Hussars in the Korean War. Andrew has written 2 books about the Korean War; “To the Last Round, The Epic British Stand on the Imjin River, Korea 1951” and “Scorched Earth, Black Snow, Britain and Australia in the Korean War, 1950”. The talk will be accompanied by a slideshow of images from the war.
• we are also very lucky to have representatives of the Royal Ulster Rifle veterans in the form of the Somme Association of Ireland attending. The veterans themselves don’t arrive in Korea until Monday morning.
• as was mentioned before it is family friendly event that is smoke free, with food available to purchase. Kids will have free entry and we will have some colouring materials and books to help keep them occupied
• there will be a raffle during the evening, everyone will get a free raffle ticket on entry.

Schedule

16:30 – opening words by Irish ambassador Eamonn McKee
16:45 – “The fighting Irish of the Korean War”presentation by Andrew Salmon (40 min)
17:45 – Dara Sheahan
18:30 – traditional music session

For full info see here

Fundraiser for visiting Irish veterans of the Korean War

As you may know next week will see the unveiling of a memorial to commemorate all those Irish people who died in the Korean war.

The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs (MPVA) has invited a dozen Irish veterans as part of their April Revisit Korea programme, during which the memorial will be unveiled. These veterans are mainly from the Royal Ulster Rifles and other British regiments. There is also a veteran from the US 8th Cavalry attending as well. About half of the veterans will be accompanied by family members and there will also be family representatives from 2 soldiers who were killed in action.

While the MPVA generously contributes to the costs of the trip there are many additional expenses for the visiting veterans

• the veterans have to get to London for their flight to Korea
• they have to pay for one night’s accommodation in Korea
• they have to pay for their travel insurance and 1/3 of their airfare
• accompanying family members have to pay the majority of the costs of their trip

The IAK is holding a fundraiser in the Dublin Terrace in Gangnam (Gangnam Subway station, Exit 11. Walk straught until you see Paris Baguette. Turn right. Walk to the top of the hill and Dublin Terrace is to the left) to help cover these additional costs for the veterans. The fundraiser will take place on Sunday April 21st from 4 pm – 8pm and will feature:

• a talk by Andrew Salmon titled “The fighting Irish of the Korean War”. This 40 minute talk will be  an account of the experience of the 1st Battalion Royal Ulster Rifles (RUR) and 8th Kings Royal Irish Hussars in the Korean War. Andrew has written 2 books about the Korean War; “To the Last Round, The Epic British Stand on the Imjin River, Korea 1951” and “Scorched Earth, Black Snow, Britain and Australia in the Korean War, 1950”. The talk will be accompanied by a slideshow of images from the war.
• a performance by IAK regular Dara Sheahan.
• a traditional music session with some dancing as well.
• Entry will cost 10,000 won, there will be drinks promotions (Guinness, Kilkenny and Smithwick’s at 8000 w) and food promotions (30% 0ff selected dishes) during the fundraiser.
• It will be both an informative and fun afternoon and evening for all in a smoke free and family friendly environment (kids are free in).
• we are also very lucky to have representatives of the Royal Ulster Rifle veterans in the form of the Somme Association of Ireland attending. The veterans themselves don’t arrive in Korea until Monday morning.
• there will run a raffle during the evening, everyone will get a free raffle ticket on entry (raffle prizes are various bottles of spirits, some chocolate all the way from Ireland, 2 * 50,000 w vouchers for Dublin Terrace, and a two bottle wine set in a leather case with accessories courtesy of Pieroth Korea.

The schedule is as follows

16:30 – opening words by Irish ambassador Eamonn McKee
16:45 – “The fighting Irish of the Korean War”presentation by Andrew Salmon (40 min)
17:45 – Dara Sheahan
18:30 – traditional music session

Memorial for the Irish who Died in the Korean War

Over the past couple of years the IAK have been working on building a memorial for Irish people who died in the Korean War. Together with the support of the Embassy of Ireland in Seoul, The Somme Association, and  The Royal Ulster Rifles Association we have gradually seen this project come to a reality, especially over the past few months.

Overall, 159 people of Irish origin are known to have died during the Korean War, the majority of which fought with the British forces. Not all who perished were soldiers, as seven members of the Columban order and Anglican nun, Sister Mary Clare Witty, also died during the conflict. It’s worth noting the Columban order’s commitment to Korea as they are in disadvantaged communities around the country.

The IAK is very happy to announce that following many long hours and much commitment, the laying of this monument will finally become a reality. On Thursday, April 25 at the Korean War Memorial in Yongsan, a small ceremony will take place.

The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs (MPVA) have invited a dozen Irish veterans as part of their April Revisit Korea programme, during which the memorial will be unveiled. These veterans are mainly from the Royal Ulster Rifles and other British regiments. There is also a veteran from the US 8th Cavalry attending as well. About half of the veterans will be accompanied by family members and there will also be family representatives from 2 soldiers who were killed in action.

This memorial has been generously supported by the Emigrant Support Programme, part of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Ireland.

The IAK would also like to give special thanks to all members of the public who generously supported this programme through our own individual fundraising campaign. All in all, the IAK has committed a donation of close to 7.5 million Korean won. Without your support and interest in our activities we could not be able to make this memorial as successful a venture as it is. 

IAK booklet

You might have seen a copy of the info booklet we were handing out at St Patrick’s Day, it gives an overview of Irish culture in Korea.

You can get a pdf copy of it over here

Organise and Host your Own Irish Cultural Event in Seoul!

Do you have any hankering to promote a particular aspect of Irish culture that you believe has been neglected? Now’s your chance to change that! The IAK is in the fortunate position to be able to invite you to organise or host your own small Irish cultural events. 

While we would leave much of the details up to yourself, we would be able to assist by helping with promotion, providing some resources (depending on the event of course), and providing a suitable venue, depending on the time and date of course. 

These events could include:

– An Irish language meeting
– An Irish film night/afternoon
– An Irish literature book club
– An Irish muisc themed open-mic
… or anything really. 

For an idea of the space available, please visit http://www.freeport.or.kr (note this is not a bar, but a cultural space with a variety of facilities which may be suitable)

If you think you have it in you to roll up your sleaves with an IAK event, please email us irishassociationkorea@gmail.com with your idea, and we’ll see what we can do.

Looking forward to hearing from you soon!