Lives of the First World War

WW1 Royal Irish Regiment cap badge

Carrick-on-Suir, Tipperary. Michael Costigan was born in Ballyrichard, Carrick-on-Suir in 1882.

Tramore, County Waterford, where Michael Costigan was living with his family at the time of his attestation into the 4th (Special Reserve) Battalion of the Royal Irish Regiment

WW1 Royal Irish Regiment cap badge

Kilkenny, where Michael Costigan was born in 1882

La Ferme de St Pierre, Vailly-sur-Aisne, where the battalion was billeted and the brigade had its headquarters on the 14th September 1914.

Le Chateau de Vauxcelles, Vailly-sur-Aisne, in the vicinity of which the Royal Irish Regiment were dug in during the fighting in September 1914

Courcelles where the 2nd Battalion Royal Irish Regiment rested and refitted after the Battle of the Aisne

Vieille Chapelle after the first bombardment

The original location of Royal Irish Regiment soldiers' graves between Vieille Chapelle and Saint Vaast (coordinates 36a.R.29.b.8.1). Private Patrick Colfer 8166, who was also killed in action on the 15th October, was originally buried here with at least one other casualty from the regiment. This could be where Private Michael Costigan was buried. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Le Touret Memorial.

The original location of Royal Irish Regiment soldiers' graves between Vieille Chapelle and Saint Vaast (coordinates 36a.R.29.b.8.1) - indicated by the red square in the centre of the image. Private Patrick Colfer 8166, who was also killed in action on the 15th October, was originally buried here with at least one other casualty from the regiment. This could be where Private Michael Costigan was buried. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Le Touret Memorial.

Concentration document for Vieille Chapelle New Military Cemetery. It shows that along with Private Patrick Colfer there was one other Royal Irish Regiment soldier originally buried in the location between Vieille Chapelle and Saint Vaast (coordinates 36a.R.29.b.8.1) and then reburied in Vieille Chapelle New Military Cemetery. There were 9 RIRgt soldiers in total killed in this area on the 15th October, so there is a 1-in-8 chance of this unidentified soldier being Private Michael Costigan

Vieille-Chapelle New Military Cemetery. Along with Private Patrick Colfer there was one other Royal Irish Regiment soldier originally buried in the location between Vieille Chapelle and Saint Vaast (coordinates 36a.R.29.b.8.1) and then reburied in Vieille Chapelle New Military Cemetery. There were 9 RIRgt soldiers in total killed in this area on the 15th October, so there is a 1-in-8 chance of this unidentified soldier being Private Michael Costigan.

The La Ferté-sous-Jouarre Memorial commemorates 3,740 officers and men of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) who fell at the battles of Mons, Le Cateau, the Marne and the Aisne between the end of August and early October 1914 and have no known graves...The memorial was designed by George H. Goldsmith, a decorated veteran of the Western Front, and unveiled by Sir William Pulteney, who had commanded the III Corps of the BEF in 1914, on 4 November 1928. (From CWGC Cemetery Details)

The Le Touret Memorial commemorates those who fell in this sector of the Western Front from the beginning of October 1914 to the eve of the Battle of Loos in late September 1915 and who have no known grave. It was designed by John Reginald Truelove and unveiled by the British Ambassador to France, Lord Tyrrell on 22nd March 1930. The soldiers of the 2nd Battalion Royal Irish Regiment are to be found on panels 11 and 12.