Design
The Garden was designed by Dáithí Hanly. It is in the form of a sunken cruciform water-feature. Its focal point is a statue of the Children of Lir by Oisín Kelly, symbolising rebirth and resurrection, added in 1971.
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 author Liam Mac Uistin, whose poem "We Saw a Vision" an aisling style poem written in Irish, French, and English on the stone wall of the monument. The aisling ( "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. |
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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 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. |
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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 II laid a wreath in the Garden of Remembrance during her state visit in May 2011, a gesture that was much praised in the Irish media.
Read more about this topic: Garden Of Remembrance (Dublin)
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