Missing war memorial
found in local church

Members of the group hadbeen working hard to trace a First World War roll of honour plaque that had gone missing from a church in Belfast.

When Elmwood Presbyterian Church on the University Road in Belfast closed 30 years ago, the plaque, which bore the names of men from the church who had fallen during the war, disappeared.

Following research on the Elmwood Presbyterian Roll of Honour it was realised that Queen’s University, who now own the Elmwood Hall, were not aware of the location of the memorial.

After extensive research, History Hub Ulster realised the memorial had made its way out of Belfast and somehow had travelled to Lisburn, where it was discovered in Elmwood Presbyterian Church on the Ballymacash Road.

With the help of the church’s Deaconess, Miss Margaret Robertson, who joined Elmwood Presbyterian in November last year, the brass war memorial was found in a box kept in a cupboard in the office of the Minister, the Rev Andrew Thompson.

The plaque bears the names of 15 men who lost their lives during the 1914-1918 conflict.

The inscription on the memorial reads ‘To the Glory of God and in Memory of Members of this Congregation who Died in the Service of their Country 1914-1918’.

A spokesperson for History Hub Ulster thanked the Lisburn church for its help in finding the memorial.

“Thanks must go to the minister and deaconess of Elmwood for keeping a Great War artefact safe and well,” he said.

“The membership of History Hub Ulster hopes that the War Memorial can again be displayed in a public place.”