Garden of Remembrance

A memorial park located in Dublin, the Garden of Remembrance (Irish: An Gairdín Cuimhneacháin) honors “all those who gave their lives in the cause of Irish Freedom". It is situated in Parnell Square, a Georgian square at the northern end of O'Connell Street, in the northern fifth of the ancient Rotunda Gardens. President Eamon de Valera officially opened the garden in 1966, on the 50th anniversary of the Easter Rising.

Architect Daithí Hanly (1917-2003) was responsible for the design of the Garden. The centre of the plan contains a large cross-shaped pool , with a tiled mosaic pattern as its base. The tiles show a picture of swords, shields, and spears thrown beneath waves; this is a nod to the Celtic custom of casting weapons into water once a battle had ended. Important objects from the history of prehistoric and medieval Ireland were woven into the structure of the Garden elsewhere; in the railings can be seen the shapes of the Trinity College (Brian Boru) harp, the Loughnashade trumpet, and the Ballinderry sword.

The Garden of Remembrance was constructed on a historically significant site. It was the site of pleasure gardens in the eighteenth century, when the goal was to earn money for the maternity hospital in front of Rutland (now Parnell) Square. Known as Rotunda Rink, this massive temporary structure served as a hall in the late nineteenth century and was located within the grounds.

The Irish Volunteers were founded in 1913 at Rotunda Rink, with an estimated 7,000 attendees at the conference. Many of the Easter Rising leaders were detained in the Rotunda Gardens in 1916 before being transported to Kilmainham Gaol to be executed. A competition to design the Garden of Remembrance was announced the year after the hospital sold the land for it in 1939.

Hanly had prepared the southernmost point of the Garden for the placement of a memorial sculpture. He had intended to create a picture of Éire and four fighters. Oisín Kelly's "The Children of Lir" was installed in 1971, trailed by a poem by Liam Mac Uistin (1938–1938). Kelly's sculpture draws a comparison between the real Irish fight and the 900-year agony of the children in the swan mythology.

Commemorated by the Garden of Remembrance are:

• the 1798 rebellion of the Society of United Irishmen

• the 1803 rebellion of Robert Emmet

• the 1848 rebellion of Young Ireland

• the 1867 rising of the Fenian Brotherhood

• the 1916 Easter Rising

• the 1919-21 Irish War of Independence

In May 2011 Queen Elizabeth II laid a wreath here, which was the first time a British monarch had visited Ireland for 100 years.

President Eamon de Valera, who had served as a commander in the Easter Rising himself, opened the Garden to the public on the occasion of the Easter Rising's 50th anniversary in 1966. On the north side, a new entrance was constructed in 2007.

The garden is open daily throughout the year and admission is free.