The Digital Repository of Ireland (DRI) is pleased to announce that a new collection – The Thomas Noonan Collection – has been published in the Repository through the University of Limerick.
The Thomas Noonan collection comprises Allied Victory Medals, British War Medals, memorial plaques, letters, photographs and diary entries relating to Noonan’s military service in the First World War and his death in Gallipoli in August 1915.
Thomas Noonan was born on 23 December 1891 and lived with his parents Michael and Catherine Noonan together with his four older sisters and two younger brothers at Ballyguy, Barrington’s Bridge, Limerick. Noonan was educated at Murroe National School and later spent three years as an apprentice at McBirney’s Drapery Emporium in Limerick city. He was engaged in clerical work until May 1914, when the prospect of better opportunities, together with the added spur of relatives already there, encouraged his emigration to Sydney, Australia.
The First World War
The Imperial War Museum notes that, in total, approximately 140,000 men in Ireland enlisted in the British Army – but these figures do not include Irish-born men who served with other British Empire forces. Like Thomas Noonan, many Irish immigrants in countries such as Canada and Australia decided to enlist in the War with their adopted homelands.
In September 1914, Thomas Noonan enlisted as a private in the Australian Imperial Expeditionary Force. Attached to the 13th Battalion, he spent periods of training in Australia and Egypt. In April 1915, Noonan was wounded in the landings at Anzac Cove on the Gallipoli Peninsula and was transferred to a military hospital in Cairo for treatment.
In July, Noonan was returned to front line duty in Gallipoli. The Australian War Memorial states that, from May to August 1915, the battalion was heavily involved in establishing and defending the Anzac front line. The 13th Battalion suffered many casualties during the attack but served at Anzac until the evacuation in December.
Sadly, Thomas Noonan was killed in action at Gallipoli on 9 August 1915. He was aged just 23 years old. Noonan is buried at the 7th Field Ambulance Cemetery in Gallipoli.
The Thomas Noonan collection offers an important and vital layer of interpretation to the often complicated relationship the island of Ireland has with its military past. Not only does this collection and its evocative pieces tell the story of Thomas Noonan and serve to commemorate his life and service, the collection asks us to consider the lives of Irish men who not only joined the British navy and air force – but also those who served in the forces of Canada, Australia, New Zealand or South Africa.
Of this collection DRI Director Dr. Lisa Griffith said:
“The Thomas Noonan collection is a fantastic addition to the Repository and enhances our military history collections as well as the individual stories of Ireland’s people and their histories. We are proud to steward this collection available for all to view on open access, for the long-term.”
The Thomas Noonan collection can now be viewed in full in the Repository.
DRI are delighted to include this valuable collection from the University of Limerick in the Repository. Other collections in the Repository include: Indexes of British Army monthly returns in Ireland during the late nineteenth century, the Royal Dublin Fusiliers Association Archive, and Cork 1920 collections.
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