Memorial to 9/11 victims to be unveiled at St Mary's Garden of Remembrance in Tipperary

The final memorial to be unveiled at St Mary’s International Garden of Remembrance in Thurles will honour all those who lost their lives in the 9/11 attacks in the US in 2001.

And, the memorial will be unveiled by a great friend to the Garden of Remembrance, a proud Thurles man, and resident in the US, Mr Martin Semple, whose father , the legendary Tom Semple is buried in St Mary's Cemetery.

The specially designed memorial will be the final piece in an already impressive jigsaw at St Mary’s which has achieved international renown and which has attracted thousands of visitors from all over Irleand and indeed globally, down through the years.

The memorial committee which is sponsored by the Republic of Korea Embassy, Ireland ensures that the garden is open to all to view, to take time out and pause for a silent prayer perhaps - a moment of reflection to remember all those who are honoured.

Chairman and founder of the Dúrlas Éile Eliogarty Memorial Committee, John Wort told the Tipperary Star that the group is very honoured and lucky to have so many good friends and committee members always ready to help and to participate in all the ceremonies which take place in St Mary's International Garden of Remembrance Thurles Co Tipperary.

He said: “Many people have asked me over the years, how did the idea come about? St Mary’s Garden of Remembrance started from my visit to Washington D.C back in 1998. I was very impressed with the Vietnam Memorial Wall and the Korean Remembrance Garden. There and then, I thought of the seventy two men from the town of Thurles who had died in the 1914 / 1918 War - all forgotten, no memorial in the town to those young men who died for what they thought was right, and for many of them who fought, it was a way to feed their families.

John Wort pictured with Martin Semple

“ Regardless of what their ideals were, they were all great and brave Thurles men, they deserved to be remembered with dignity and pride.

“St Mary's is a very special Garden of Remembrance. It was the first Garden of Remembrance of its kind in Ireland and it inspired many Irish United Nations veterans associations and Óglaigh Náisiúnta na h-Éireann branches around Ireland to build their own garden of remembrance.

“The Cobh Branch of Óglaigh Náisiúnta na h-Éireann in Cork have been attending all our ceremonies from the start when St Mary’s Memorial Garden was officially opened and the first memorial unveiled by the then Minister for Defence Michael Smith T.D. on November 12, 2000.

St Mary’s Garden of Remembrance is also twinned with the Irish United Nations Garden in Tibnin South Lebanon, according to John.

“My good friends and I were very lucky to visit Lebanon on five occasions where we met and talked with the Irish soldiers who were on peacekeeping duties in Camp Shamrock. We also attended Mass in St Georgios Church for all our young Irish soldiers who died in the service of peace in Lebanon. We were always treated with great respect by the people and we had the great honour to meet with the President of Lebanon, Mr. Michel Suluiman in his palace. Before he became President he was Commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces from 1998 to 2008. President Suluiman made us feel very welcome and he acknowledged the work that we were doing in St Mary’s Garden of Remembrance.

“In his Presidential Chamber he said to me ‘the seat that you are sitting on, your President Mrs. Mary McAleese sat there last week.’ I just looked at him, I could not answer him. Then he tod me that in the main hall, the photo of our group will hang alongside the Presidents photo.

“ Mr. Guy Jones, Chairman of the Irish Lebanese Cultural Foundation, organized all our visits to Lebanon. That’s just one of the many happy memories I had representing the Dúrlas Éile Eliogarty Memorial Committee.

“We have come a long way in the last twenty two years, with many ceremonies and all the memorials erected in St Mary’s to all who have died in all wars in the service of peace at home and overseas. Our local, national and international heroes all are remembered with dignity and pride .

The 9/11 memorial will be erected and enveiled on Remembrance Sunday, November 13 next and will commemorate all who died in the terrorist attacks on the United States of America on that fateful day in 2001.

The committee is thrilled that Martin Semple, formerly of Fianna Road has agreed to unveil the memorial - Martin and his wife Jo are regular visitors home to Thurles and are fervent supporters of St Mary’s International Garden of Remembrance.