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)
Famous quotes containing the word design:
“What but design of darkness to appall?—
If design govern in a thing so small.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“I begin with a design for a hearse.
For Christ’s sake not black—
nor white either—and not polished!
Let it be weathered—like a farm wagon—”
—William Carlos Williams (1883–1963)
“The reason American cars don’t sell anymore is that they have forgotten how to design the American Dream. What does it matter if you buy a car today or six months from now, because cars are not beautiful. That’s why the American auto industry is in trouble: no design, no desire.”
—Karl Lagerfeld (b. 1938)