A LARGE crowd turned out on Sunday for the civic ecumenical service at St Iberius Church to mark Remembrance Day.
The Dean of Cashel Reverend Philip Knowles officiated over the service.
A wreath laying ceremony at Redmond Square followed afterwards.
Organised by Reverend Arthur Minion and Mayor of Wexford Cllr George Lawlor, the event commemorated the 800 young Wexford men who lost their lives in the Great War.
Speaking at the service, the Mayor noted: “It is poignant that 100 years after the beginning of World War I that we would gather here to recall the hundreds of young Wexford men who lost their lives in combat.”
Cllr Lawlor continued: “These men left Wexford excited about what lay ahead of them, but they quickly realised that there is no glamour in warfare as the sheer horror of what they were about to experience became apparent.”
The Labour party politician recognised that the young men who fought in the war did so upon the advice of constitutional nationalist John Redmond, who he claimed “ironically” encouraged the Irish to join the war effort to help secure Home Rule “by peaceful means”.
The remembrance service was attended by officials from the United Nations Veterans’ Association and the Organisation of National Ex-Servicemen (ONE).