Boer War Monument, City Hall, Donegall Square, Belfast, County Antrim, BT1 5GS

Boer War Memorial, City Hall, Belfast

This bronze memorial commemorates soldiers of the Royal Irish Rifles killed during the Boer War of 1899–1902. Unveiled on 6 October 1905 by Lord Grenfell, commander of the Forces in Ireland, it was designed by the accomplished English sculptor Sydney March and constructed by the decorative metalworkers Elkington and Company of London and Birmingham. The monument was among the first war memorials erected and predates the completion of City Hall itself in 1906.

The memorial stands approximately 5.5 metres high on the east side of City Hall. A formal granite base of four steps supports a tapering, battered plinth capped with arch-topped rectangular bronze plaques on each elevation. The front plaque bears a Hibernian harp and the motto "Who Shall Separate Us?" inscribed in Latin. The other three sides record the names of the Royal Irish Rifles killed in action, while a subsidiary tablet on the west face records names from associated regiments: the 83rd (County of Dublin) Regiment, the 86th (Royal County Down) Regiment (1793–1881), and the Royal Ulster Rifles (1921–1968).

At each corner between the bronze plaques stand smaller winged figures representing War, Death, Victory and Fame. Standing on a roughly-hewn granite boulder is a bronze statue of a soldier in topee and puttees with bayonet at the ready, depicted holding a rifle with bayonet attached. The memorial is enclosed by modern iron railings and set within a semi-circular lawn.

Originally located in the central north-east corner of the City Hall grounds in line with the statue of Queen Victoria, the memorial was relocated to its present position on the eastern side during the 1920s following the addition of the Cenotaph and Garden of Remembrance. Cleaning and repair work was undertaken in 1992–93. The monument forms part of an important group of high-quality memorials surrounding City Hall that complement the main building and contribute to the architectural character of Donegall Square.