Memorial

THE WELLINGTON OBELISK

November 2, 2024 by infomatique

PHOENIX PARK OCTOBER 2024

The Wellington Monument in Phoenix Park, a towering obelisk marking the Dublin skyline, stands as a somewhat ironic tribute to Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington. While intended to celebrate his victory at Waterloo and Irish roots, the project was met with lukewarm public support and beset by delays and funding issues. This lack of enthusiasm stemmed from Wellington’s waning popularity in Ireland due to his political stance against Catholic Emancipation, alongside funding difficulties and the monument’s relocation to a less central location.

Ironically, the monument is associated with two contrasting anecdotes that capture the complex relationship between Wellington and his homeland. The first, often recounted with a chuckle, involves a stable built on site to house the horse for the planned equestrian statue. When funds ran dry, leaving the stable empty, Wellington quipped, “If they cannot afford the horse, they can afford the stable.” This story, though popular in Dublin, highlights the financial woes that plagued the monument’s construction and the eventual abandonment of the statue.

Far more widely known, however, is the biting remark by Daniel O’Connell, a leading figure in the fight for Catholic Emancipation: “The poor old duke, what shall I say of him? To be sure he was born in Ireland, but being born in a stable does not make a man a horse.” O’Connell, a champion of Catholic Emancipation and a towering figure in Irish history, crafted a retort that resonated deeply with those who felt betrayed by Wellington’s political stance. This quote, deeply ingrained in Irish historical memory, underscores the complexities of Wellington’s legacy in Ireland, where admiration for his military achievements is often tempered by his political actions.

In contrast to the Dublin monument, the Wellington Monument in Trim, County Meath, enjoyed significant local support. This stemmed from Wellington’s strong personal ties to the town, where he spent his formative years and served as a member of Parliament. Funded and championed by the local community, the Trim monument, a more modest bronze statue atop a column, reflects a sense of local pride and ownership absent in the Dublin project.

The contrasting stories associated with the Dublin monument, one humorous and the other pointedly critical, offer a glimpse into the complexities of commemorating historical figures whose legacies are intertwined with political and social tensions. These contrasting narratives, alongside the differing receptions of the Dublin and Trim monuments, paint a nuanced picture of Wellington’s legacy in Ireland, one marked by both admiration and resentment.

TODAY I VISITED THE IRISH NATIONAL WAR MEMORIAL GARDENS

March 23, 2024 by infomatique

ON THE SOUTH BANK OF THE RIVER LIFFEY

The ‘Memorial Garden’ is not a Park – it is a Garden of Remembrance in the centre of a larger Parkland. The gardens were designed along a strong north-south axis, leading from the entrance at Con Colbert Road down to the Great Cross and the War Stone, and to the Temple on the terrace above the River Liffey.

The Irish National War Memorial Gardens hold a quiet power that lingers long after you pass their gates. Here, nature itself stands as a poignant testament. The sunken rose gardens, designed by the renowned Sir Edwin Lutyens, aren’t simply beautiful; they carry the symbolism of soldiers forever within the embrace of the earth. The meticulously arranged herbaceous borders speak to order amidst the chaos of war. The sweeping lawns and avenues lined with majestic trees seem to whisper both grief and resilience.

But perhaps the most striking element is the intimate sorrow housed within the granite bookrooms. The names of all 49,400 Irish soldiers fallen in the Great War are enshrined in volumes adorned with Harry Clarke’s hauntingly beautiful illustrations. Each page, awash with Celtic symbolism and vibrant colours, tells not just a tale of loss, but of lives lived and cultures entwined.

Within this park, remembrance flourishes, not as a grand spectacle, but as a deeply personal and contemplative experience.

THE ÉIRE 1798 MEMORIAL IS THE CENTRAL FEATURE OF SAINT MICHAN’S PARK IN DUBLIN

September 21, 2023 by infomatique

PHOTOGRAPHED BY WILLIAM MURPHY

St. Michan’s park was first developed by Dublin Corporation as a park in 1898 and was refurbished by the parks division between 1996-7. Facilities include a toddlers’ play area, a handball alley [which was closed for many months and may not be operational even now] and seating with associated shrub plantings.

As you may have noticed from my photographs the statue of Erin is the central feature of Saint Michan’s Park.

Éire 1798 Memorial (1903)
Artist Unknown
Commissioned by Dublin Corporation.

The statue of Éire is positioned on a raised area of the green with a high pedestal; and dated at the base to 1903. This date puts the installation of the statue at some five years after the park opened. When the site was transformed into a public park the mound had been designed to hold a memorial and the pedestal was installed by at least 1899.

The site was inherently political due to its association with Newgate prison, the walls of which were consciously retained as the outline of the park. Newgate Prison was where many United Irishmen (here commemorated in relief tablets around the base) were incarcerated and this monument was raised to commemorate
the centenary of the death of rebel leader, Robert Emmet.

Éire’s demeanour is subdued and downcast, holding a funerary wreath, a wolfhound looks up at her from one side and in the background the nationalist symbol of the high cross is clearly visible. The base of the monument has an inscription in Irish script with reference to the history of the prison. It reads:

Within this park once stood Newgate prison
Associated in dark and evil days with the doing to death of
Confessors of Irish liberty who gave their lives to vindicate
Their country’s right to National independence
This memorial is erected to perpetuate their memory
To honour their motives and to inculcate a grateful reverence
In Irish minds for sacrifices thus nobly made
For freedom and to proclaim Ireland’s fidelity
To the principles of the men whose names are heron inscribed
In the belief that these will yet redeem and
Regenerate our fatherland for subjection

WORKERS’ MEMORIAL DAY EVENT

April 30, 2023 by infomatique

AT THE GARDEN OF REMEMBRANCE 28 APRIL 2023

A national commemorative event has been held in Dublin by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) and the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) to mark Workers’ Memorial Day, an international day of remembrance for those who have been killed or seriously injured in work-related incidents.

In Ireland, 481 people were killed in such incidents over a 10-year period from 2012 to 2021, and so far seven people have died in incidents at work this year.

Workers’ Memorial Day, also known as International Workers’ Memorial Day or International Commemoration Day for Dead and Injured, takes place annually around the world on April 28, an international day of remembrance and action for workers killed, disabled, injured, or made unwell by their work. In Canada, it is commemorated as the National Day of Mourning.

Workers’ Memorial Day is an opportunity to highlight the preventable nature of most workplace incidents and ill health and to promote campaigns and union organisation in the fight for improvements in workplace safety. The slogan for the day is Remember the dead – Fight for the living.

Although April 28 is used as the focal point for remembrance and a day of international solidarity, campaigning and other related activities continue throughout the year right around the world.

HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS MEMORIAL IN THE FORM OF AN OGHAM GARDEN

February 9, 2023 by infomatique

IVEAGH GARDENS IN DUBLIN

This caught me by surprise today even though I visit the gardens on a regular basis I was unaware of this Human Rights Memorial.

Ogham is an Early Medieval alphabet used primarily to write the early Irish language (in the “orthodox” inscriptions, 4th to 6th centuries AD), and later the Old Irish language (scholastic ogham, 6th to 9th centuries). There are roughly 400 surviving orthodox inscriptions on stone monuments throughout Ireland and western Britain, the bulk of which are in southern Munster. The largest number outside Ireland are in Pembrokeshire, Wales.

The vast majority of the inscriptions consist of personal names.

9 December 2020

Minister for Foreign Affairs, Simon Coveney T.D., today inaugurated a memorial monument in Iveagh Gardens alongside UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders Mary Lawlor, and Front Line Defenders Executive Director Andrew Anderson. It commemorates the lives of human rights defenders who have been killed because of their peaceful work defending the rights of others.

The Memorial was jointly initiated by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Front Line Defenders to provide a physical space in the heart of Dublin city to recognise the important work of human rights defenders around the world, and pay tribute to the many brave and inspirational human rights defenders who have been silenced.

Designed by Grafton Architects, the monument is an Ogham garden, comprised of five standing stones, etched with ancient Irish Ogham script, each representing a native Irish tree. The space is enclosed by a crafted metal screen, on which are plaques, bearing the words of those who gave their most precious gift – their life – for their causes.

The plaques include the following words spoken by environmental and indigenous peoples rights defender Bety Cariño at a gathering of human rights defenders in Dublin Castle in February 2010. Two months later she was shot dead during a peaceful solidarity procession in Northern Oaxaca, Mexico.

“Today we want to live another history: we are rebelling and we are saying enough is enough. Today and here, we want to say that they are afraid of us because we are not afraid of them, because despite their threats, despite their slander, despite their harassment, we continue to walk towards a sun which we think shines strongly”.

At today’s launch in Iveagh Gardens, Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney said:

“The Irish government is proud of its partnership with Front Line Defenders in supporting and promoting the work of human rights defenders. This memorial will represent a place where Irish people, and those who visit our shores, can come and pay tribute to human rights defenders worldwide who have lost their lives in the peaceful pursuit of human rights and equality for all.”

Executive Director of Front Line Defenders, Andrew Anderson spoke about the legacies of the defenders:

“It is important to remember the peaceful defenders of human rights that the killers have tried to erase, but also to celebrate their lives and achievements. Natalya Estemirova, Floribert Chebeya and Bertha Caceres were murdered because they made a difference, and they continue to inspire a new generation of human rights defenders.”

UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Mary Lawlor stated:

“Between 2015 and 2019 the UN documented the killing of 1323 human rights defenders in 64 countries. It is shocking and unacceptable that human rights defenders have been killed in almost a third of all member States of the United Nations.”

Özlem Dalkiran, a human rights defender from Turkey attended the unveiling and spoke about her colleague and friend Hrant Dink, a human rights defender and journalist who was shot outside the offices of the newspaper where he worked in 2007.

“By killing Hrant, they couldn’t kill his dreams. On the contrary they helped the seed he sowed to grow much faster.”