Official opening of WWI hut at Down Museum

Official opening of WWI hut at Down Museum

20 October 2021

A REPLICA of a First World War Armstrong hut which mirrors those which had been in place at Ballykinar camp has been officially opened at the Down County Museum in Downpatrick.

The so-called Ballykinar history hut experience is being hailed as a major new tourist attraction at the English Street museum, with the replica made possible with support from the European Union.

Guests at yesterday afternoon’s opening included EU official Martina Byrne from the Peace IV Programme who was joined by retired Major Tony Canniford — who was stationed at Ballykinar — and Dr Paddy Moore, whose grandfather Dr Patrick Moore was interned in one of the Armstrong huts in 1921 after standing as a Sinn Fein candidate in a local election.

Both men have a connection with the huts from the last century and highlight the diverse and shared history of the camp from 1914 to 1967.

Major Canniford, a former Commandant (Senior Training Safety Officer) was stationed at Ballykinar and takes a great interest in the shared history of the camp.  He retired in June 2021 after 43 years’ service and assisted the Down County Museum with the hut project in 2012, rescuing hundreds of items from under one of the last Armstrong huts to be dismantled at the camp, some of which are now on display at the museum.

Dr Moore’s grandfather looked after internees in the camp hospital and almost escaped through a 100-yard tunnel from his hut in July 1921, but the tunnel was discovered at the last minute.

Ms Byrne, who is the chairwoman of the PEACE IV Partnership, said the Down County Museum has created a “unique shared history experience” in the recreated hut.

She said the new attraction explores the lives of diverse occupants of the ‘World’s End Camp’, in particular, people who lived through the difficult years of the First World War, The Irish War of Independence and the Second World War. 

“When you enter the hut, you really feel as if you are travelling back in time,” she said

Local council staff have been working on the hut recreation for three years, assisted by the Centre for Data Digitisation and Analysis at Belfast’s Queen’s University and have gathered about 100 stories of people who occupied the huts. 

The huts were first built to house 4,000 Belfast men training with the 36th (Ulster) Division for active service on the Western Front, including at the Battle of the Somme in July 1916.

The huts later housed 1,800 republican internees who were arrested all over Ireland during the Irish War of Independence in late 1920 and 1921, with the soldiers in 1914 and the internees in 1921 given the same beds, made from three planks, with four army blankets to sleep on.

The original 60ft by 20ft timber huts, clad with corrugated iron, housed evacuees from Malta, American GIs and German prisoners of war during World War Two and also sheltered Hungarian refugees in 1957, after the Russian invasion of Hungary. 

The last huts were dismantled in 2012 when local man Andrew Carlisle recorded how one was built and saved hundreds of artefacts from the sand underneath and donated them to the Downpatrick  museum. 

Local historian Philip Orr’s book, published by the museum entitled ‘Ballykinlar Camp, The First 70 Years’, was an inspiration to staff to recreate an Armstrong hut in the museum’s courtyard, in order to tell the human stories of its many occupants, engaging world-wide with families of soldiers, prisoners, evacuees and refugees formerly at the World’s End Camp. 

The circular visit to the hut includes sections on ‘World War One’, ‘Internment’, ‘Between the Wars’ and the ‘World War Two’, with recreated beds and sets, each with a story to tell. 

Official opening the new replica Armstrong hut, council chairwoman Cathy Mason welcomed guests, in particular, those who had a historic connection to it. She explained that the hut, complete with tunnel entrance, was constructed and fitted out during lockdown as part of the local authority’s ‘Shared History and Culture’ programme, a project supported by the PEACE IV Programme and managed by the Special EU Programmes Body.

Thanking everyone who had played a key role in the project, Cllr Mason said not only have the diverse stories of extraordinary men and women been told inside the hut, she was sure they will be of interest to people all over the world, including those in the United States, Germany, Malta, Hungary and Belgium. “The hut will be an important new tourist destination for the district,” the council chairwoman continued.

“I would like to thank the Special EU Programmes Body for funding the council’s shared history initiative through its PEACE IV Programme and also all the people who have contributed stories and artefacts to tell the story of this historic place.” 

Match funding for the Ballykinar hut project has been provided by The Northern Ireland Executive Office and the Department for Rural and Community Development in Ireland and the new attraction will be open for visits in the museum’s central courtyard from next Wednesday, October 27. 

The museum is currently open from Wednesday to Saturday between 10am to 4.30pm. Admission is free of charge and for further information visit: www.downcountymuseum.com.