War Memorial, Charlemont Square, Bessbrook, Co. Armagh

War Memorial

This polished white marble obelisk-style war memorial stands in Charlemont Square, Bessbrook, erected around 1934 to designs by Emerson Sculptors of Newry. The memorial commemorates the 85 men of Bessbrook and the surrounding district who fell in the First World War.

The memorial comprises a polished white marble pinnacle mounted on a stepped polished granite base. The marble section features an octagonal-section spire topped with a moulded draped shroud and decorated with swags to the bottom. A shield bearing the dates 1914-18 appears in relief to the front. The square base carries moulded panels with applied lead lettering.

The main inscription faces south-east towards Fountain Street and reads: "To Bear to Succeeding Generations the Names of the Men of Bessbrook and District who Fell in the Great War, And as a Testimony to their Noble Sacrifice. They shall grow not old As we that are left grow old Age shall not weary them, Nor the years condemn. At the going down of the Sun And in the morning We will remember them." The names of the 85 fallen are listed in two columns across the remaining three sides of the base.

The stepped granite plinth bears the dates 1939-1945 and carries a moulded granite scroll recording the 16 names of those from Bessbrook who died during the Second World War (11 additional names were added following the end of that conflict). The signature "EMERSON, NEWRY" appears on the north-east side of the marble section.

The memorial is enclosed by dwarf walling of dressed granite blocks topped with plain painted metal railings, some featuring scrollwork panels. Modern painted metal hooks on metal bars surround the base of the memorial.

The memorial stands at the south-east end of Charlemont Square, a formally designed square arranged around three sides with a central green. At its official unveiling on 7 April 1934, the ceremony was conducted by Francis Needham, the Earl of Kilmorey, after which the Bessbrook Spinning Company accepted custodianship of the memorial.

J. E. Emerson, proprietor of the Newry Granite Polishing and Monumental Works factory on Sugar Island (one of the principal stone works in the region), designed and constructed the memorial. He used imported marble for the pinnacle but locally quarried Newry granodiorite for the base. The completed structure stands approximately 17 feet in height.

The memorial is of considerable local historical and social importance. Its well-designed proportions and detailing, combined with its prominent central setting in Charlemont Square, significantly enhance the architectural character and historic significance of Bessbrook. Although constructed much later than the original planned layout of the village, it possesses group value with the planned squares and public buildings of Bessbrook. The war memorial was included within the Bessbrook Conservation Area when it was designated in 1983 in recognition of Bessbrook's historical significance as a planned mill village and its distinct form and character.