Northern Ireland War Memorial

Find out what life was like in Northern Ireland during the Second World War!

In 1943 an appeal for a War Memorial was launched with the government undertaking to match donations from the public. A site in Waring Street that had been bombed during the Blitz in May 1941 was chosen for the building; the building being the subject of a design competition. Memorial House was opened by HM The Queen Mother in 1963. By 2006 the War Memorial Building on Waring Street had fulfilled its original purposes and the War Memorial downsized to its present premises in 21 Talbot Street.

The War Memorial gallery is on the ground floor. The board room, conference room, offices and archive are on the second floor. The facilities are available free to all ex-Service bodies as a charitable output.

The new building at 21 Talbot Street incorporates a new Hall of Friendship, the original stained glass memorial window by Stanley Murray Scott, the Belgian marble War Memorial wall, the copper frieze by James McKendry and the two Rolls of Honour – all from the original War Memorial on Waring Street.

The objectives of the Northern Ireland War Memorial (NIWM) are:

• A memorial to those who sacrificed their lives in the First and Second World Wars
• Remembering those who died in the blitz on Belfast in 1941
• A testimony to the friendship established with the US Forces who trained here from 1942 to 1944
• Offices for ex-Service charities.

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