War Memorial, The Diamond, Coleraine, Co. Londonderry, BT52

War Memorial at The Diamond, Coleraine

This Portland stone and bronze war memorial was designed by Frederick William Pomeroy, a noted English sculptor, and dates from 1922. It commemorates those from Coleraine who lost their lives in the First and Second World Wars. The memorial is situated directly in front of the entrance to the Town Hall at the western end of Church Street in Coleraine town centre.

The memorial comprises a granite base and step supporting a shaft of Portland stone. The obelisk tapers upward and is engraved on its east face with the inscription: "IN GRATEFUL MEMORY OF THE MEN OF COLERAINE WHO LAID DOWN THEIR LIVES IN THE 1914-1918 WAR AND THE 1939-1945 WAR THEIR MEMORY LIVETH FOR EVER MORE".

The sculptural composition features two bronze figures. Standing on a semi-circular stone base on the plinth below is a draped female figure representing a daughter of Erin, reaching upward to attach a laurel wreath to the obelisk. The obelisk is surmounted by a bronze figure of a soldier wearing a helmet and holding a rifle. Commemorative plaques on three faces of the base bear the names of those lost in both world wars, with granite plaques inscribed with names of those lost in more recent conflicts.

The memorial was erected in the early 1920s to commemorate the contribution Coleraine had made to the war effort, with approximately one thousand local men having taken part—nearly thirteen per cent of the population at that time. The memorial cost £1,800 to construct. It first appears on the fourth edition Ordnance Survey map of 1923 and was listed in 1993. Pomeroy, responsible for several war memorials in the grounds of Belfast City Hall, created a work of high artistic and craft value that remains of significant social importance to the local community.