National Day of Commemoration

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The National Day of Commemoration (Irish: Lá Cuimhneacháin Náisiúnta), of Ireland, is held annually in the Royal Hospital Kilmainham on the Sunday nearest July 11 (see Irish Calendar), the anniversary of the date in 1921 that a truce was signed ending the Irish War of Independence. The day commemorates all Irish men and women who died in past wars or on service with the United Nations.

The military and religious ceremonies are held in the presence of the President, the Taoiseach and other members of the Government of Ireland, members of the Oireachtas, the Council of State, the Diplomatic Corps, the Judiciary, relatives of 1916 leaders, next-of-kin of those who died on service with the UN, Northern Ireland representatives and a wide cross-section of the community, including ex-servicemen and ex-servicewomen.

Representatives of the three divisions of the Defence Forces parade and render military honours. Since its inception, music has been provided by the combined bands of the several Army Commands and Dr. Bernadette Greevy.

The ceremonies begin with a multi-faith service, compising prayers, hymns and readings by senior representatives of the main Christian denominations and of the Jewish and Islamic faiths.

The military ceremonies include an honour guard of the Cadet School, the laying of a wreath by the President on behalf of the people of Ireland, Reveille, the raising of the Tricolour and the playing of Amhrán na bhFiann.

[edit] Background

The National Day of Commemoration was established in 1986, and the first commemoration was held in the Garden of Remembrance. Since then the ceremonies have been held at the Royal Hospital. Until 1986 various commemoration ceremonies had been in place, but none had achieved widespread recognition or acceptance. In response to these difficulties, an Informal Oireachtas All-Party Committee was established to examine the question of a single National Day of Commemoration. The view of this Committee was that there should be a religious service and a military ceremony and this has been the tradition since.

One of the main recommendations made by the All-Party Oireachtas Committee was that the National Day of Commemoration should be organised in a way which would reflect its national importance, which would encourage people of different traditions to participate and which would attract the interest and support of the public. The current service and ceremonies closely follow these recommendations