War Memorial, Junction between Kerr Street and Mark Street, Portrush, Co. Antrim

The Portrush War Memorial is a granite memorial designed by sculptor Frank Ransom, dating from 1922. It stands at the junction of Kerr Street and Mark Street in the centre of Portrush, directly outside the town hall.

The memorial comprises an Irish granite pedestal on a two-stepped plinth, surmounted by a bronze statue of Victory holding a sword in one hand and a palm branch in the other. The pedestal is enclosed by cast-iron arrow-head railings and sits on two stone steps.

The front of the pedestal bears a bronze tablet engraved with a maritime scene depicting battleships in the foreground. Above this is a bronze wreath. The inscription to the front reads: "TO THE / BRAVE MEN / OF THIS DISTRICT / WHO RESPONDED TO DUTY'S CALL / AND HELPED TO WIN / THE / VICTORY / IN THE / GREAT WAR / 1914-1918". The base carries a longer dedicatory plaque stating: "THE NAMES INSCRIBED THEREON ARE OF THOSE FROM THIS TOWN / AND DISSTRICT WHO AT THE CALL OF KING AND COUNTRY / LEFT ALL THAT WAS DEAR TO THEM, ENDURED HARDSHIP / FACED DANGER AND FINALLY PASSED OUT OF THE SIGHT OF / MEN BY THE PATH OF DUTY AND SELF SACRIFICE GIVING UP / THEIR OWN LIVES THAT OTHERS MIGHT LIVE IN FREEDOM". The three remaining sides of the pedestal carry bronze plaques engraved with the names of the fallen. The capstone bears inscriptions to the east reading "THEIR NAME LIVETH FOR EVERMORE" and to the west "DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP IN VICTORY".

The memorial was commissioned following a decision taken in March 1920 to erect a war memorial. Frank Ransom of Golders Green in London was selected as sculptor on the recommendation of Sir George Frampton. The bronze statue of Victory was commissioned for £1,300 and the memorial was unveiled on Armistice Day 1922. Bronze plaques were subsequently purchased from Messrs Gardiner & Co Ltd at a cost of just over £100. At the time, the population of Portrush and District was approximately 3,000, of whom 300 fought in the First World War. Seventy-five did not return, with eleven young men from the town among those lost in the Battle of the Somme, the heaviest single loss sustained by the town. Following the Second World War, additional names were added to the memorial. A plaque has recently been added commemorating the men of the 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, who were stationed in Portrush between December 1943 and March 1944. Research has identified minor errors in the inscribed names: John Tosh was mistakenly written for John McIntosh, and Joe Miller and Joe Johnston are the same person.

The memorial is a work of high artistic and craft value that contributes significantly to the character of the surrounding area and is of considerable social and cultural importance to the local community.