Garden Of Remembrance, Dublin

The Garden of Remembrance is a memorial garden devoted to people who died in the struggle for Irish freedom. Its sunken, cross-shaped pool carries mosaic work showing spears, shields and swords, and its focal sculpture is Oisín Kelly’s Children of Lir, installed in 1971. The architect was Dáithi P.

Hanly, and Éamon de Valera opened the garden in 1966. The site also connects directly with the revolutionary story: the Irish Volunteers were founded here in 1913, while several leaders of the Easter Rising were held here overnight before removal to Kilmainham Gaol. As you take in the water and stone, notice how the sculpture turns the memorial toward rebirth and resurrection. That meaning is part of the documented design, and the garden’s strongest impression comes from its meeting of political memory with a deliberate, sculptural setting.