Remembrance: From poppy cascades to white crosses - displays across Northern Ireland

'People have been knitting and crocheting for the past year' - cascading poppies for Remembrance Image caption, The Reverend William Orr says the display at his church involved descendants of those who died in World War One By Luke Sproule, Cormac Campbell and Keiron Tourish BBC News NI Published 58 minutes ago Many churches and communities across Northern Ireland have been preparing for Remembrance Sunday with commemorations which invite people to stop and remember those who died in war.

On Sunday, services will take place in memory of those killed in the two world wars and subsequent conflicts. Some of the largest ceremonies are at the cenotaph in Belfast and in Enniskillen, which is expected to be attended by the Northern Ireland secretary and the taoiseach (Irish prime minister). Hundreds of smaller ceremonies will take place in towns and villages, with people gathering at war memorials and joining in two minutes of silence from 11:00 GMT.

Among them is St Mark's Church in Portadown, County Armagh, which is marking its 200th anniversary this year. Among the exhibits there are a huge poppy cascade from the church tower and displays telling the story of local people who played a part in the world wars. Image caption, A cascade of poppies sits on the outside of the tower of St Mary's Church in Killinchy In 2024 the church had 200 poppies in an archway representing parishioners killed in the world wars and in 2025 there were 497 poppies in a cascade representing each name on the town's war memorial.

The Reverend William Orr said the cascade from the tower this year was fitting as the tower was built in memory of those killed in World War One. "They decided on 10,000 poppies and people from the church, from the community, people from far away have decided that they wanted to help out," he said. "So the call went out on social media and lots of people have been knitting and crocheting for the past year." Orr said descendants of those killed in the world wars were among those who had made poppies for the display.

Image caption, There are a range of displays inside St Mary's in Killinchy as well as the cascade of poppies outside Alison Henderson from the church's craft group said putting the poppies onto the netting for the cascade had taken about five or six weeks and that a huge team of people were involved in the project. "I honestly couldn't put a number on it, its hundreds," she said. "A team of about 15 of us kept coming every week but more people than that just kept coming and going."

Image caption, St Mary's in Killinchy, County Down, also has a poppy cascade A cascade of poppies also decks out the tower of St Mary's Church in Killinchy. Inside, the church has exhibits including uniforms, photographs and displays telling local people's stories. Irene McIlveen from the church said women in the parish had been working on the poppies since February. Remembrance: 10,000 knitted poppies and a brave Irish nurse Handmade poppy display gets 30,000 donated flowers "As we continued to do it more and more people got involved, from the area and also people from Scotland, people from England, people from America were all posting us poppies," she said.

"By the end we had about 8,500 poppies." Image caption, Irene McIlveen says there had been a great response to the church's project In Londonderry the local connection is key to a display in the Fountain Estate. One hundred white crosses symbolise the 756 people from the city who were killed in the world wars, as well as those who died in other conflicts. Derek Moore from the Fountain Men's Shed said remembrance was not just a time to think about the past but an opportunity to look forward.

Image caption, The display in Derry is by the famous city walls, in the Fountain Estate "The world is very uncertain at the moment and a lot of people have been asked to make sacrifices, the remembrance part of it reminds us all about what that is really like," he said. "The people who fought in the Great War lived in a different world from us. "For them the sacrifice seemed worth it, it might not seem worth it in this day and age but the sacrifice at that time was needed.

"Everyone in the city - regardless of religion - bought into that and those young men went and fought and died. "It's very poignant." The BBC marks the significance of Remembrance Week 2026 with a wealth of coverage across BBC News, BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds, as well as live on BBC One. Read more: How to follow the National Service of Remembrance at The Cenotaph and the Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance on the BBC. Related topics Northern Ireland Remembrance poppy Portadown Londonderry-Derry World War One World War Two More on this story A brave Irish nurse and 10,000 knitted poppies Published 13 November 2022 Remembrance Day: What is it and why is it important?

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