The County Mayo Peace Park and Garden of Remembrance is a project to document people from County Mayo who lost their lives in both World Wars. [1] The park is located in Castlebar, County Mayo.
The County Mayo Peace Park and Garden of Remembrance is a project to document people from County Mayo who lost their lives in both World Wars. [1] The park is located in Castlebar, County Mayo.
The park was conceived by Michael Feeney. [2] It was officially opened by Mary McAleese, the President of Ireland in October 2008. [1] The annual Remembrance Day Services to commemorate the World War deceased began in 1999, when Feeney organised an official Remembrance mass in the Church of the Holy Rosary in Castlebar following research which showed that a significant number of County Mayo soldiers were killed in action in World War I and World War II.
The park also contains a plaque commemorating Mayo natives that fought for the United States, including those that fought in the Korean War and Vietnam War. [3]
The peace park has faced criticism due to the fact that it only commemorates those who fought for the British Army and not those who died in the Irish War of Independence and the Easter Rising. A commemoration to Cornelius Coughlan, a Victoria Cross recipient for services during the Indian Mutiny, was described as a "war crime commemoration" by Dr Pat Muldowney, a historian and lecturer at the University of Ulster. [4] The Peace Park was described as "a monument to the British" by Fianna Fáil Mayo County Council group leader Al McDonnell. McDonnell further stated that "My suspicious were confirmed when they conferred an MBE on one of the park's founder members. The British saw the park as an endorsement of their colonial and military policies." [5] [6]
County Mayo is a county in Ireland. In the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, it is named after the village of Mayo, now generally known as Mayo Abbey. Mayo County Council is the local authority. The population was 137,231 at the 2022 census. The boundaries of the county, which was formed in 1585, reflect the Mac William Íochtar lordship at that time.
Remembrance Day is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth member states since the end of the First World War to honour armed forces members who have died in the line of duty. The day is also marked by war remembrances in several other non-Commonwealth countries. In most countries, Remembrance Day is observed on 11 November to recall the end of First World War hostilities. Hostilities ended "at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month" of 1918, in accordance with the armistice signed by representatives of Germany and the Entente between 5:12 and 5:20 that morning. The First World War formally ended with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on 28 June 1919.
Remembrance Sunday is held in the United Kingdom as a day to commemorate the contribution of British and Commonwealth military and civilian servicemen and women in the two World Wars and later conflicts. It is held on the second Sunday in November. Remembrance Sunday, within the Church of England, falls in the liturgical period of Allsaintstide.
A cenotaph is an empty tomb or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere. Although the vast majority of cenotaphs honour individuals, many noted cenotaphs are instead dedicated to the memories of groups of individuals, such as the lost soldiers of a country or of an empire.
In Ireland, the National Day of Commemoration commemorates all Irish people who died in past wars or United Nations peacekeeping missions. It occurs on the Sunday nearest 11 July, the anniversary of the date in 1921 that a truce was signed ending the Irish War of Independence. The principal ceremony is held at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham, Dublin, Ireland.
Castlebar is the county town of County Mayo, Ireland. Developing around a 13th-century castle of the de Barry family, from which the town got its name, the town now acts as a social and economic focal point for the surrounding hinterland. With a population of 13,054 in the 2022 census, Castlebar was one of the fastest growing towns in Ireland in the early 21st century.
Events in the year 1966 in Ireland.
The Island of Ireland Peace Park and its surrounding park, also called the Irish Peace Park or Irish Peace Tower in Messines, near Ypres in Flanders, Belgium, is a war memorial to the soldiers of the island of Ireland who died, were wounded or are missing from World War I, during Ireland's involvement in the conflict. The tower memorial is close to the site of the June 1917 battle of Messines Ridge, during which the 16th (Irish) Division fought alongside the 36th (Ulster) Division.
The Mayo Senior Football Championship, known for sponsorship reasons as the Connacht Gold Mayo Senior Football Championship, is an annual Gaelic football competition contested by the top Mayo GAA clubs.
The Irish National War Memorial Gardens is an Irish war memorial in Islandbridge, Dublin, dedicated "to the memory of the 49,400 Irish soldiers who gave their lives in the Great War, 1914–1918", out of a total of 206,000 Irishmen who served in the British forces alone during the war.
Seán Victor "John" McAndrew was a Gaelic footballer. Born in the County Mayo town of Bangor Erris, he was one of the longest surviving Mayo Gaelic footballers to hold All-Ireland Senior Football Championship winners' medals. He was part of the 1950 and 1951 team, captained by Seán Flanagan, that won titles back-to-back those years at Croke Park, Dublin.
Celtic Park is an association football stadium based in Castlebar, County Mayo. It was the home ground of Castlebar Celtic who played in the Women's National League (WNL), the top tier of Irish women's football between 2011 and 2016. It remains home to Castlebar Celtic's associated men's team, who play at regional level in the Mayo Association Football League.
George Robert Fitzgerald, aka Fighting Fitzgerald was a celebrated Irish eccentric, duellist and landowner, who was hanged for conspiracy to murder in 1786.
Michael Feeney, MBE, is the founder of the County Mayo Peace Park and Garden of Remembrance. An Irish citizen he was awarded the MBE due to his services in promoting British-Irish relations by Queen Elizabeth II at a ceremony at Buckingham Palace in the Queen's New Year Honours List in 2010.
Ger Feeney was an Irish Gaelic footballer who played for the Mayo county team.
The National Famine Commemoration Day is an annual observance in Ireland commemorating the Great Famine. A week-long programme of events leads up to the day, usually a Sunday in May. It has been organised officially by the government of Ireland since May 6th 2008. The main event is held in a different place each year, rotating among the four provinces of Ireland. There is also an international event, held in a place important for the Irish diaspora.
Ballina is a town in north County Mayo, Ireland. It lies at the mouth of the River Moy near Killala Bay, in the Moy valley and Parish of Kilmoremoy, with the Ox Mountains to the east and the Nephin Beg mountains to the west. The town occupies two baronies; Tirawley on the west bank of the Moy River, and Tireragh, a barony within County Sligo, on its east banks. At the 2022 census, the population of Ballina was 10,556.
The Murrisk Millennium Peace Park is a five-acre park located north of the R335 road overlooking the Atlantic Ocean in the village of Murrisk, County Mayo, Ireland at the foot of Croagh Patrick mountain. The landscaping of the park was purposefully designed to be as unobtrusive as possible, allowing for clear views of Croagh Patrick, the National Famine Memorial, Murrisk Abbey and Clew Bay. The minimal landscaping also serves to reinforce the stark visual impact of Ireland's National Famine Memorial, the "Coffin Ship", a sculpture which stands prominently in the park. The unveiling of the National Famine Memorial by President Mary Robinson on 20 July 1997 predated the opening of the Millennium Peace Park by some four years.