The Garden of Remembrance is an Irish memorial garden, created in Dublin
to commemorate all those killed in the Anglo-Irish War (also known as
the Irish War of Independence) between 1919 and 1922. It also
commemorates those who died in other conflicts in the struggle for Irish
freedom, notably
the 1798 rebellion the 1803 rebellion the Young Irelander Rebellion of 1848 the Fenian Rising of 1867 the 1916 Easter Rising. the Irish War of Independence 1919-21
The Irish Civil War is generally not commemorated there, as it is
still a politically divisive issue.
Because subsequent campaigns of violence did not achieve the same
levels of support, IRA members (or those of other paramilitary
organisations) killed after 1922–1923 are not allowed to be commemorated
there.
The Garden of Remembrance was opened in 1966 by President de
Valera on the fiftieth anniversary of the Easter Rising. 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. It is located in the northern fifth of the original park
in the centre of Parnell Square (formerly Rutland Square), a Georgian
square on the northside of Dublin.
In 2004 it was suggested that as part of the redesign of
the square the Garden of Remembrance itself might be redesigned.
A much larger National War Memorial, built thirty years earlier,
commemorates those who died in World War I.