Victory in Europe Day or VE Day celebrations in Portglenone, Co. Antrim followed the familiar format of those in many other Ulster towns and villages. On hearing the historic announcement from Prime Minister Winston Churchill on 8th May 1945, the village began to decorate.
Services of thanksgiving took place in several local churches and were well attended. By the late evening, the streets were “a blaze of colour”. Music filled the streets as marching bands and Lambeg drumming parties performed throughout the village.
Effigies of Adolf Hitler and Lord Haw-Haw hung on wires across the main street. At nightfall, locals lit a bonfire and the pair soon succumbed to the flames bringing an end to VE Day in Portglenone, Co. Antrim.