WWI Green Poppies

In history for the past couple of weeks we have been studying WWI- how and why it began and how the war effected Ireland. We did all this in preparation for November 11th, the anniversary of the day the war ended.

Irish soldiers signed up to fight with the British to help get Home Rule in Ireland. But during the war the 1916 Easter Rising took place, this caused tension between the British and the Irish in the trenches. The Irish soldiers were forced to do the jobs the British didn't want to. Over 30,000 Irish soldiers died in the war and the soldiers that returned home were effected both physically and mentally. The Irish soldiers were treated as traitors back home in Ireland.

Every year the British commemorate the soldiers that fought for them in World War I by wearing red poppies. Poppies are worn because they are the only plant that grew in no mans land between the trenches. We decided to make poppies to commemorate the forgotten Irish soldiers. Our poppies were green instead of red to represent the Irish. On Tuesday the 10th of November we went around to the other classes in school and told them about the work we had been doing to remember the forgotten Irish soldiers. We urged them to take a poppy and wear them into school on Wednesday.