Garden of Remembrance (Dublin)
TheGarden of Remembrance(Irish:An Gairdín Cuimhneacháin) is a memorial garden inDublindedicated to the memory of "all those who gave their lives in the cause of Irish Freedom". It is located in the northern fifth of the former Rotunda Gardens inParnell Square,aGeorgiansquare at the northern end ofO'Connell Street.[1]The garden was opened by PresidentEamon de Valeraduring thesemicentennial of the Easter Risingin 1966.[2]
Commemoration[edit]
The Garden commemorates freedom fighters from various uprisings, including:
- the1798 rebellionof theSociety of United Irishmen
- the1803 rebellionofRobert Emmet
- the1848 rebellionofYoung Ireland
- the1867 risingof theFenian Brotherhood
- the1916 Easter Risingof theIrish Volunteersand theIrish Citizen Army
- the1919–21 Irish War of Independenceof theIrish Republican Army[3]
The site of the Garden is where the Irish Volunteers were founded in 1913, and where several leaders of the 1916 Rising were held overnight before being taken toKilmainham Gaol.PresidentÉamon de Valeraopened the Garden in 1966 on the fiftieth anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising, in which he had been a commander.[1]
Design[edit]
The Garden was designed by Dáithí Hanly. It is in the form of a sunkencruciformwater-feature. Its focal point is a statue of theChildren of LirbyOisín Kelly,symbolising rebirth and resurrection, added in 1971,[1]cast in theFerdinando Marinelli Artistic Foundryof Florence, Italy.
In 1976, a contest was held to find a poem which could express the appreciation and inspiration of this struggle for freedom. The winner was Dublin-born authorLiam Mac Uistín,whose poem"We Saw a Vision",anaislingstyle poem, is written in Irish, French, and English on the stone wall of the monument. Theaisling( "vision" ) form was used in eighteenth-century poems longing for an end to Ireland's miserable condition.
"We Saw A Vision"
In the darkness of despair we saw a vision,
We lit the light of hope and it was not extinguished.
In the desert of discouragement we saw a vision.
We planted the tree of valour and it blossomed.
In the winter of bondage we saw a vision.
We melted the snow of lethargy and the river of resurrection flowed from it.
We sent our vision aswim like a swan on the river. The vision became a reality.
Winter became summer. Bondage became freedom and this we left to you as your inheritance.
O generations of freedom remember us, the generations of the vision.[1]
In Irish the poem reads:
"An Aisling"
I ndorchacht an éadóchais rinneadh aisling dúinn.
Lasamar solas an dóchais agus níor múchadh é.
I bhfásach an lagmhisnigh rinneadh aisling dúinn.
Chuireamar crann na crógachta agus tháinig bláth air.
I ngeimhreadh na daoirse rinneadh aisling dúinn.
Mheileamar sneachta na táimhe agus rith abhainn na hathbheochana as.
Chuireamar ár n-aisling ag snámh mar eala ar an abhainn. Rinneadh fírinne den aisling.
Rinneadh samhradh den gheimhreadh. Rinneadh saoirse den daoirse agus d'fhágamar agaibhse mar oidhreacht í.
A ghlúnta na saoirse cuimhnígí orainne, glúnta na haislinge.
In 2004, it was suggested that as part of the redesign of the square the Garden of Remembrance itself might be redesigned. This led to the construction of a new entrance on the garden's northern side in 2007.
Queen Elizabeth IIlaid a wreath in the Garden of Remembrance duringher state visit in May 2011,a gesture that was much praised in the Irish media, and which was also attended, upon invitation, by the widow and the daughter of the garden's designer Dáithí Hanly KHS.
References[edit]
- ^abcdeWhelan, Yvonne (2001). "Symbolising the state: The iconography of O'Connell Street, Dublin after Independence (1922)".Irish Geography.34(2): 145–150.doi:10.1080/00750770109555784.
- ^Linehan, Hugh."Remembering the Rising: how they did it in 1966".The Irish Times.Retrieved2 April2019.
- ^"Garden of Remembrance, Dublin".Tourist Information Dublin.Retrieved23 November2015.
See also[edit]
- Irish National War Memorial Gardens,to Irish soldiers who fought and died inIrish regimentsof theAllied armiesinWorld War I
-
"We Saw a Vision"by Liam Mac Uistín -
"An Aisling"by Liam Mac Uistín
