Garden of Remembrance

You've reached the end of the route, and the end of this story too. The Garden of Remembrance is dedicated to the memory of ‘all those who gave their lives in the cause of Irish freedom’, from the 1798 rebellion to the War of Independence of 1919 to 1921.

1Why here

The site was no accident. It was part of the Rotunda Gardens, and in 1913 the Irish Volunteers were founded here. After the surrender of 1916, several leaders of the Rising were held here overnight in the open before being taken to Kilmainham Gaol.

2A garden thirty years in the making

The idea was first proposed in 1937. A competition was launched in 1946, the architect Dáithí Hanly won it in 1950 and building began in 1961. It was opened by President Éamon de Valera, himself a commander in 1916, on 10 April 1966, the fiftieth anniversary of the Rising.

The pool is shaped like a cross, and its mosaics show spears, shields and swords, recalling the old Celtic custom of throwing weapons into water when a battle was over. Oisín Kelly's sculpture of the Children of Lir was added in 1971. It evokes an Irish legend: four siblings turned into swans by their stepmother for nine hundred years.

In May 2011, Queen Elizabeth II laid a wreath here, a historic gesture of reconciliation.

3What to look for

• The mosaics on the floor of the pool, with spears, shields and swords.
• The Children of Lir, caught in mid-flight.
• The poem ‘We Saw a Vision’ by Liam Mac Uistín, carved into the wall.