24418: Pairc War Memorial
History of the Pairc War Memorial
The first memorial was a cairn of local stone, which was situated on the opposite side of the road from where the memorial now stands. The Cairn was thought to have been built in 1922 by local stonemason Donald MacDonald (Domhnull Clachair) from Benside who married Mary MacLeod of 2/4 Kershader. The plaque mounted on this cairn listed the names of those killed in WWI from the Kershader School District.
In 1934 Iain Shuntaidh, a stonemason living in Stornoway who was originally from Grimshader, rebuilt the war memorial on the present site. The original plaque was transferred to the new memorial.
Early in 1984 Donald and Millie MacLeod, 2 Kershader, undertook to try to get the memorial renovated and to have the names of the fallen from World War II added. These names had not been added before this because by a tragic twist of fate, three of the sons of Domhnull Clachair the man who built the original memorial, were killed during the war. Their mother Mary refused to have their names put on so it was not until after her death that this project could be undertaken. After a lot of letter writing and meetings with a representative from The Highland Territorial Auxiliary Reserve Association, work on the monument began in 1985. Norman MacAulay from Balallan carried out the renovation. The memorial was then enclosed by a fence, which was built by Donald of No 2.
Previously the memorial listed the names of those from the Kershader School District. Pairc Historical Society undertook to add the names of all those from the Pairc area who lost their lives during World War I & II. These were added in May 2002.
A great deal of time and effort was devoted to this project by members of the Pairc Historical Society and by local community volunteers. Special thanks should go to the team that built the stone wall that now encloses the memorial, for their hard work in all weather conditions.
A house-to-house collection has been carried out to meet the expense of this project.
See the pictures below (click on thumbnail to enlarge) for the names.
Record Location
Details
- Record Type:
- Historical or Archaeological Site
- Type Of Site:
- War Memorial
- Period:
- 20th century
- Record Maintained by:
- CEP
Related Media
Pairc War Memorial
Pairc War Memorial
Plate One Pairc War Memorial
Plate Three Pairc War Memorial
Plate Two Pairc War Memorial