Montserrat island "Santa María de Montserrate", after the Virgin of Montserrat in the Monastery of Montserrat, on Montserrat mountain, near Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. "Montserrat" means "serrated mountain" in Catalan. Archaeological field work in 2012, in Montserrat's Centre Hills indicated there was an Archaic (pre-Arawak) occupation between 4000 and 2500 BP. Later coastal sites show the presence of the Saladoid culture. In November 1493, Christopher Columbus passed Montserrat in his second voyage, after being told that the island was unoccupied due to raids by the Caribs. A number of Irishmen settled in Montserrat in 1632. The preponderance of Irish in the
Montserrat in World War I (worth about £40,000 today) to the British Empire. A number of locals served in the Merchant Navy. Of these, six died in service. Every 14 November, Montserrat holds a Remembrance Day, in which all Montserratians who died in the First World War are remembered, alongside with the Montserratians who died in the Second World War and the Iraq War. There was a war memorial in Plymouth, Montserrat, but it was abandoned when volcanic eruptions buried the town. In 2010 a new war memorial, in Little Bay, Montserrat, was christened. According to official records, the following Montserratians are recorded as having