The meeting was announced to commence at 8 o’clock and at that hour the spacious hall was filled by an assemblage of the inhabitants of the village and district of both sexes.

On the motion of Mr George McDonald, secretary of the Club, seconded by Mr. Alexander Hanna, Blackhill, Sir Hirman Wilkinson, D.L., took the chair amid applaud. He read a letter of apology from Col. Waters, White Fort, Tobermore, expressing regret at being unable to be present, and adding that too much honour could not be done to, or the heroism and devotion even unto death, sufficiently appreciated of the gallant and patriotic young men of Tobermore and surrounding district who had volunteered their services in defence of their King and country in this terrible war, and for the protection of our homes and lives. The Roll of Honour would be a permanent memorial of their heroism and an inspiration to others in after times to follow their noble example in time of need.  (Applause.)

The Chairman said it was with great pleasure that he was there that evening, and that pleasure was attributable to more than one circumstance.  He was pleased and proud to be there at the unveiling of the Roll of Honour of the men who had gone out from the town, and from that Club, in the founding of which his son had taken such an active part. (Applause.) The Club was founded before anyone thought of a European war. There were some murmuring of internecine strife, but the objects for which the Club was founded were right and proper objects, not merely right and proper from an Ulster point of view, but from the point of view of the Empire. (Hear, hear.) The foundation of the club had been justified fully by the events. Circumstances had changed; events had occurred which were not foreseen, but the usefulness of the Club to the Empire had been greater than ever was contemplated.  (Applause.) Nothing greater was desired then and nothing greater was desired at the present moment. We considered that it would be a disaster to ourselves and no less a disaster to the Empire if the whole of this country were to be in such a position as to be dissevered from the Empire. Since that time men have seen and have been more than ever convinced of the advantage the Empire gives to everyone in its parts, and Ireland is no less a part of the Empire than the great Dominions of Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. Nothing that tends to cause a greater separation of any parts from England could be of advantage to the Empire. England was at this moment the Mother Country, the symbol of Empire, and in speaking of severance from England we speak of severance from freedom. What would be the condition of England or any of the Dominions as separate from England while the envy and greed of the central European Powers was directed always towards their absorption? The one thing which was not contemplated when the Club was founded was the outbreak of a European war and they now knew the advantage that Club and other similar Clubs had been in providing the Empire with its fighting men. (Hear, hear.) They had all a right to be proud of the result the Club had brought about for without it there would not have been such recruiting for the Empire, notwithstanding the desire of the men to serve it. He believed that there was no village in the United Kingdom could give a better account of what it has done.  (Applause.) Tobermore and its surroundings was not a far field. The last census showed 89 houses in the village and there were now 91 men on the Roll of Honour. (Applause.) Four of these that laid down their lives in the service of the country. The Club have done good work in that way. It had also done much good work in another way.  Things had occurred recently which would make some people think that the Clubs had not done much good for the objects for which they were founded, but if these Clubs had not been founded there would have been no question of exclusion of the six counties; it would have been taken for granted that we would have been included in it and had we objected coercion would have been applied to us. Our Covenant was exclusion of the whole nine counties of Ulster, but circumstances had arisen which caused that demand to be modified and there was the possibility of arrangements been carried out whereby three of those counties are to be included in the Parliament in Dublin. We regretted that, but had the satisfaction of knowing that the Unionists of these three counties were quite convinced that it was the right thing to take the inclusion of the six counties. And it was recognised by the Unionists in the other three counties that we were not leaving them in the lurch.  He was convinced that it was a mistake to have Home Rule at all (applause), that the Empire would be stronger if the Government saw fit to refuse Home Rule. But the question had been taken out of our hands and it was considered to be in the interests of the Empire that Home Rule be given with the exclusion of the six counties. The Club was founded in the interests of the Empire and in that interest they had accepted that arrangement and whatever happened the members of the Club now being honoured had brought great honour to it.  (Applause.) He was pleased to be present also because the Memorial was to be unveiled by Mr. Dennis Henry (loud and prolonged applause), who had come amongst them for the first time since his election as their member of Parliament. They had the satisfaction of knowing him as he came from their own neighbourhood. They were glad to see him and give him a hearty welcome. (Applause.)

Mr. D.S. Henry, M.P., who, in coming forward was again loudly cheered, said they were met to perform a bare act of justice-to acknowledge indebtness to these brave men. While he was speaking millions of men in all quarters of the world were arrayed against each other, and while we were here in peace, death was busy amongst them. Across the channel in England the war was brought home to the people in a way that happily we, in Ireland, did not experience.  When the members of the communities in various places retired at night, engines of destruction that flew in the night were often busy, and the people rose in the morning to look upon scenes of destruction and desolation, and on murdered women and children representing the glory of the German ideal.  It was not to be wondered at that men over there had gone to the colours in hundreds of thousands. But the men they were met to honour did not need such incitement as that. They rose up willingly to the call of duty and left behind those who were near and dear, left a life of contentment and happiness and went forth to take their post in the realities of war. And their example would be cherished by the men and women he was addressing for many a long day. And so they should never let it be forgotten that these men had given of their best for the people there present as well as for their King and country.  (Applause.) Some of them had made the supreme sacrifice, and given life itself-given ungrudgingly and bravely. Their nameless graves had been made by strange, though kindly hands, and they reposed in a foreign land, and it rested with those left to see that their memory was cherished and that obligation would be kept. Consider what these men had done.  They went out from the civil community into a state of war.  And while at all times in the world’s history there have been war, the wars of the old days was as but a playtime to the present awful conflict. It fills one with sorrow to see how science and learning were being applied by a great nation for a purpose of destruction. There was dead in the air, death in the hidden and secret mine, poisonous breath, all forms of engines for the purpose of mutilation and death. Yet notwithstanding all this horror these men had gone voluntarily from peaceful lives in the village, responding to the call of duty and taking upon themselves all the risks and dangers that the profession of arms now mean. It was easy for him to speak or for people to listen, but tomorrow when enjoying a day of calm and rest let it be remembered that for these wonderful men in the trenches there is no day of rest. Death is always with them and always around them, and they were bearing our burden. As he had said some of these men had met death-met it with courage, but, please God, many of them would survive.  Let us trust and pray that God would spare them to revisit their homes and to once again take up their peaceful avocations. (Applause.) Some of them had left wives and children behind. It was our duty to sympathise with and help to enlighten the load of all left at home-to dry the tears of the widows and the fatherless.  The sacrifices these men have made were not thrown away.  Even now signs of victory were apparent. (Applause.) Even now the just retribution that will fall upon the nation that has brought upon the nations of the earth that terrible strife, and the individual that is most responsible of all for these horrors upon the civilised world, there are portents that a just retribution is approaching. (Applause.) And when that has been achieved and our men return again let us see that we will welcome them as they deserve to be welcomed. (Applause.) We must not be unmindful of all they have done and suffered for us, but meet them with gratitude, and with thankfulness shake their strong right hand, and congratulate them on what they have done for us, and for King and country. (Applause.) And their names as placed on record on this Roll of Honour will show to those who come after us, as a permanent memorial, what this brave band from the village and neighbourhood had done. Some of them had gone to the Great Dominion beyond the sea, but they heard the call there and had come back to take their part in the great struggle in which the Empire was engaged. They were not forgetful of their obligations out there, to their old homes; they recognised them and were willing to discharge them. (Applause.) These men deserved an enduring memorial, not only written on that Roll, but engraven on our hearts, a grateful recollections of their deeds and the obligations we were under to them for their sacrifices. It must never be forgotten that when the country required their services they were not found wanting. (Applause.) He considered it a very great honour to be asked to unveil that Roll of Honour. It was no mere empty formality. Let then be pointed out to the children coming after, these names of the men who had bled and died for their country, whose glorious example would be a shining light to the coming generations. He now removed the veil with a full heart.

The removal of the Union Jack from the face of the Roll was the signal for a loud outburst of cheering, mingled with hardly suppressed emotion. There were tears in many voices as the large audience joined in the singing of the National Anthem.

Mr. Samuel Nelson, the painter of the Roll, in proposing a vote of thanks to Mr. Henry for unveiling it, made such touching reference to the young men in the trenches, whose names he had so cleverly transferred to the canvas, as showed his work to have been a labour of love.

Mr. George McDonald, in seconding, said Mr. Henry had responded to the invitation to come that evening, doubtless at considerable inconvenience. It was his first visit since his election and they were glad to see him.  They’re especially liked him because he was a neighbour and in the years to come he hoped, when Mr. Henry would be elevated to the judicial bench, that they would elect another neighbour in his place. (Applause.)

The vote of thanks having been passed with enthusiasm and conveyed.

Mr. Henry, in responding, said he had attended with very great pleasure.  He had lately asked for their support and had got it, for which he thanked them. He might soon ask for it again under very altered circumstances and was sure he would get it.  (Applause.)  He assured then that anything he could do in the way of war service or in the service of the Union he would do.  (Applause.)

Mr. Francis Miller, N.T., in proposing a vote of thanks to the chairman, said there was no more fitting man in Ireland to preside at such a gathering. He had been an Empire builder and now his son, who had started that Club, was an Empire builder, being a judge in a British dependency. Sir Hirman in addition to his work for the state had always taken a great interest in Tobermore, and had always endeavoured to advance the interests of the people.

Rev. J.A.  Kelly, A.B., rector of Tobermore, seconded the vote of thanks.

The Chairman, in responding, said his son who had founded that club was at the present time engaged in most necessary work-preventing trading with the enemy.

The Chairman then presented Mr. D.S. Henry with a photograph of the Roll of Honour, after which the proceedings concluded with the singing of “God save the King.”

The Mid-Ulster Mail, Saturday, July 8^th 1916.