'In Flanders Fields the Poppies Blow' But Will They Grace Your Lapel? - The Wild Geese2024-03-29T07:35:12Zhttps://thewildgeese.irish/forum/topics/poppy-in-ireland-remembrance-day?id=6442157%3ATopic%3A61419&feed=yes&xn_auth=noAlways in memory of my Father…tag:thewildgeese.irish,2019-01-24:6442157:Comment:2382052019-01-24T22:01:15.838ZDaniel P Quinnhttps://thewildgeese.irish/profile/DanielPQuinn
<p>Always in memory of my Father who fought in WWII in India, Burma and China.</p>
<p>Always in memory of my Father who fought in WWII in India, Burma and China.</p> Yes the poppy was used in the…tag:thewildgeese.irish,2015-11-13:6442157:Comment:1749772015-11-13T19:49:34.092ZCameron William Robinsonhttps://thewildgeese.irish/profile/CameronWilliamRobinson
<p>Yes the poppy was used in the US and Canada as a flower of rememberance.It is also interesting to note that one of the worlds largest republics, which like Ireland who have had conflict with Great Britain in their struggle for independance, use the poppy for the wreaths they lay at the Great War (WW1 for our American cousins) and World War 2 memorials. That place is the Republic of India, who was the second country of the Empire to gain its independance. Other countries adopted flowers for…</p>
<p>Yes the poppy was used in the US and Canada as a flower of rememberance.It is also interesting to note that one of the worlds largest republics, which like Ireland who have had conflict with Great Britain in their struggle for independance, use the poppy for the wreaths they lay at the Great War (WW1 for our American cousins) and World War 2 memorials. That place is the Republic of India, who was the second country of the Empire to gain its independance. Other countries adopted flowers for rememberence at the end of the Great War Framce uses the Blue Cornflower, Germany uses the Forget-me-Not (Germany's rememberence day is this weekend), and Belgium uses the Poppy too, after all 'its in Flanders Fields were the poppy grows'. The flowers are usually made of paper, or cloth some wear brooches. In Britain there is a small movement of pacists who indtroduced a white poppy. None of these flowers, In all these countries are worn to glorifiy war or as sign of triumphalism they are simiply a sign of rememberance. I think the real problem is that the poppy was drawen into a political campaign in Ireland.. It is sad in this day and age the pepole at the theatre have given in to the blackmail of the threat of violence, is this not what our forces today are fighting againest, the scourage of intolerance. As a historical footnote on the Irish cops comment. During the Easter Rebellion an English officer said to a member of the Royal Irish Regiment (many of the British units in Dublin were actually Irish),' will you have a problem shooting at those fellows' , 'no sirr was the reply if they bloody well shoot at us w'll bloody well shoot back'. Sadly Irishmen, as we know from the American Civil War and more recent events have no problem shooting each other. Hopefully those days are now behind us and we can repect each others traditions.</p> Yes, I buy and were the poppy…tag:thewildgeese.irish,2015-11-13:6442157:Comment:1748972015-11-13T13:24:07.855ZThat's Just How It Washttps://thewildgeese.irish/profile/MaryThorpe
<p>Yes, I buy and were the poppy every year. because two of my uncles served in the British Army, one of them died at 27years of age. For whatever reason they served in the British Army, does not matter to me ; that fact that they put their lives on the line, is the real issue here.</p>
<p>If they made the decision in Ireland to promote green Poppy's I woudl buy and wear one of them also. Irish men died in two world wars . Irish men died in Ireland 1916 / 1919-1922.................... and our…</p>
<p>Yes, I buy and were the poppy every year. because two of my uncles served in the British Army, one of them died at 27years of age. For whatever reason they served in the British Army, does not matter to me ; that fact that they put their lives on the line, is the real issue here.</p>
<p>If they made the decision in Ireland to promote green Poppy's I woudl buy and wear one of them also. Irish men died in two world wars . Irish men died in Ireland 1916 / 1919-1922.................... and our history tells us that Irish men and women died in many, many other conflicts in Ireland and all over the world...</p>
<p>Remembrance is just that remembrance... all all those young men who went to war and never came back Politics shoudl not come into it, although it does unfortunately . </p> I'm a bit confused by this wh…tag:thewildgeese.irish,2013-11-14:6442157:Comment:621832013-11-14T21:35:26.099ZJohn W. Hurleyhttps://thewildgeese.irish/profile/JohnWHurley
<p>I'm a bit confused by this whole discussion because in America the VFW sells fake poppies to raise funds for veterans. So myself and my family have worn them all our lives but we wear/wore them in memory of US soldiers who died, particularly those who died saving Europe from Hitler, as my Dad was a WW2 veteran.</p>
<p>That said, my grandfather was a reservist prior to WWI. In 1913 he also joined the Irish Volunteers and helped drill and train men who later fought in the War of Independence.…</p>
<p>I'm a bit confused by this whole discussion because in America the VFW sells fake poppies to raise funds for veterans. So myself and my family have worn them all our lives but we wear/wore them in memory of US soldiers who died, particularly those who died saving Europe from Hitler, as my Dad was a WW2 veteran.</p>
<p>That said, my grandfather was a reservist prior to WWI. In 1913 he also joined the Irish Volunteers and helped drill and train men who later fought in the War of Independence. On the outbreak of the war he got called up and there were many others in exactly the same position. Either they wanted to soldier or they just needed the money because they were so poor. Although defeating German militarism and fascism in WWI was just as important as doing it in WWII. After the war ended he returned home, and fought in a column so he was able to put some of what he learned to work to help liberate Ireland. Ironically perhaps during the War of Independence many times British soldiers disliked the Black and Tans as much as the IRA did and often helped save IRA prisoners from being murdered. If you ever read about that period it happened quite a lot. I think about 1/4 of all Black and Tans were Irish Catholics. And while the British army has done horrendous things in Northern Ireland at times, to my mind they were not as bad as the Free State soldiers who tied unarmed prisoners to landmines and blew them to pieces or buried alive wounded prisoners during the Civil War. Of course these men founded the modern Irish army.</p> Mayo Peace Park and Garden of…tag:thewildgeese.irish,2013-11-12:6442157:Comment:617912013-11-12T03:33:28.552ZLisa Fortin Jacksonhttps://thewildgeese.irish/profile/LisaFortinJackson
<p><em><strong>Mayo Peace Park and Garden of Remembrance--Castlebar, Co. Mayo (August, 2013)</strong></em><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/57439239?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="550" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/57439239?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="553" class="align-full" height="382"/></a></p>
<p><em><strong>Mayo Peace Park and Garden of Remembrance--Castlebar, Co. Mayo (August, 2013)</strong></em><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/57439239?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="550" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/57439239?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="553" class="align-full" height="382"/></a></p>
Wow. That's a powerful q…tag:thewildgeese.irish,2013-11-12:6442157:Comment:616902013-11-12T03:22:53.686ZLisa Fortin Jacksonhttps://thewildgeese.irish/profile/LisaFortinJackson
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<p>Wow. That's a powerful question, Rónán. The short answer is…probably not. I'm a third generation Irish American. Today I read an article that raised the same issue. I believe it was written by another Irish American. The author shared your viewpoint. I believe he said, "I'll wear the poppy when the Brits start wearing the Easter Lily." I can understand that sentiment. But at the same time, were the tens of thousands of Irish who lost their lives in the Somme…</p>
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<p>Wow. That's a powerful question, Rónán. The short answer is…probably not. I'm a third generation Irish American. Today I read an article that raised the same issue. I believe it was written by another Irish American. The author shared your viewpoint. I believe he said, "I'll wear the poppy when the Brits start wearing the Easter Lily." I can understand that sentiment. But at the same time, were the tens of thousands of Irish who lost their lives in the Somme any less Irish than the ones who stayed and fought for Irish freedom at home? I'm not sure it's fair to say that the Irish who fought in WWI were "fighting against their own people." Fairer perhaps to say that they were fighting on behalf of their own people, albeit under the cloak of their oppressors. Maybe that doesn't make it any less palatable for you, and it is your absolute right to feel that way. But here we're talking about singularly unique times in both world (as well as in Irish) history that happened to intersect spectacularly around 1916. Just a guess, but I would surmise that you have neighbors whose grandfathers and great-grandfathers fought in the War for Irish Independence, as well as neighbors whose ancestors fought in Europe. Is a life sacrificed for a cause you happen to believe in somehow more significant than one sacrificed for that which you scorn? Your decision to make, but in my humble opinion, any man who would sacrifice his life for what he believes is a just cause deserves to be honored. Death is the great equalizer, and the Irishmen who fought in WWI were to their way of thinking fighting for Ireland as surely as those who stayed home and fought on their own soil for Irish freedom. Would you go so far as to call those men traitors to Ireland?</p>
<p>The poppy is a symbol, and symbols have as much or as little meaning as you personally attach to them. So as others have so eloquently said earlier in this thread, the meaning you choose to ascribe to it is for you alone to decide. Personally, I like the idea of the green poppy. Because it recognizes the Irish lost in WWI, yet likewise honors the spirit of nationalism. Regardless, it's worthy of careful consideration. Because isn't the way we choose to honor our ancestors inextricably connected to the way we honor (or dishonor) each other? </p> And for Jim Kelly RN
tag:thewildgeese.irish,2013-11-11:6442157:Comment:617662013-11-11T14:44:41.180ZDJ Kellyhttps://thewildgeese.irish/profile/DJKelly
<p>And for Jim Kelly RN</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/57439255?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="139" class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/57439255?profile=original"/></a></p>
<p>And for Jim Kelly RN</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/57439255?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="139" class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/57439255?profile=original"/></a></p> And for great uncle Billy Row…tag:thewildgeese.irish,2013-11-11:6442157:Comment:618362013-11-11T14:40:38.817ZDJ Kellyhttps://thewildgeese.irish/profile/DJKelly
<p>And for great uncle Billy Rowney (rt): <a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/57439257?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="457" class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/57439257?profile=original"/></a></p>
<p>And for great uncle Billy Rowney (rt): <a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/57439257?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="457" class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/57439257?profile=original"/></a></p> Wearing mine for James Hodges…tag:thewildgeese.irish,2013-11-11:6442157:Comment:617582013-11-11T14:30:38.000ZDJ Kellyhttps://thewildgeese.irish/profile/DJKelly
<p>Wearing mine for James Hodges Kelly RN<a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/57439227?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="721" class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/57439227?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024"/></a><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/57439268?profile=original" target="_self">.</a></p>
<p>Wearing mine for James Hodges Kelly RN<a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/57439227?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="721" class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/57439227?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024"/></a><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/57439268?profile=original" target="_self">.</a></p> Here is the interesting persp…tag:thewildgeese.irish,2013-11-10:6442157:Comment:617322013-11-10T18:58:12.219ZKieron Punchhttps://thewildgeese.irish/profile/KieronPunch
<p>Here is the interesting perspective of a British WW2 veteran:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/08/poppy-last-time-remembrance-harry-leslie-smith" target="_blank">http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/08/poppy-last-time-remembrance-harry-leslie-smith</a></p>
<p>"I will no longer allow my obligation as a veteran to remember those who died in the great wars to be co-opted by current or former politicians to justify our folly in Iraq, our morally…</p>
<p>Here is the interesting perspective of a British WW2 veteran:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/08/poppy-last-time-remembrance-harry-leslie-smith" target="_blank">http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/08/poppy-last-time-remembrance-harry-leslie-smith</a></p>
<p>"I will no longer allow my obligation as a veteran to remember those who died in the great wars to be co-opted by current or former politicians to justify our folly in Iraq, our morally dubious war on terror and our elimination of one's right to privacy."</p>