One of the most important aspects of this project is to rebuild the information on the people who lived at Knockaloe and in Patrick 100 years ago. This will take time to collate. It is estimated that at any one time over 23,000 internees lived at Knockaloe as Internees, spread across 4 camps split into 23 compounds, each housing around 1,000 internees, as well as the thousands of guards, however sadly the records from that time were destroyed and only fragmented and incomplete information remains.
Even within families, the fact that a family member was interned as an “enemy alien” was often never discussed, and so the information is hard to come by and will need to be painstakingly recorded as people contact the website and visit the Visitors Centre.
It will take many years of research in many different documents and listings around the world to rebuild this information, but to go beyond this and tell the story of lives of the internees, the village and the wider families of those who were here many years ago. With many of the descendants being grandchildren of the internees, they are likely to be the last generation to remember first hand these people, and therefore time is against us.
You can support the initial development and subsequent work of the Visitors Centre and the Archive and Research team, by sponsoring a bed in a hut for an internee from just £25 a year. You will be sent a Knockaloe style postcard identifying your camp, compound, hut and bed number, ready for the internees we hope to learn about over the coming years. Once the Visitors Centre opens, we shall keep all sponsors updated with developments and special events so you can understand just what your sponsorship has helped us to achieve. All sponsors will be permanently recorded on our Archive and as part of our Visitors Centre to recognise their hugely valuable contribution.
To sponsor a bed at Knockaloe Camp please contact us at info@knockaloe.im