A Garden of Remembrance in Kinsale, Co Cork, where 343 trees are planted in memory of the firefighters who died in 9/11 has been visited by relatives of the perished over the years with some opting to scatter ashes at the quiet grove on-site.
Each tree at the Ringfinnan Garden of Remembrance is marked with a small, white sign emblazoned with the firefighter’s name and a small American flag.
Virgil Horgan, whose late cousin Kathleen Cait Murphy set up the garden in 2002 having spent decades working as a nurse at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, says the garden is also dedicated to Fr Mychal Judge, chaplain to the New York fire service.
“Fr Judge’s parents were born in Co Leitrim and he grew up in New York and subsequently joined the priesthood. When the North Tower was struck by an airplane the fire services were called out and Fr Judge, as was his custom, rushed to the scene of the attack. He was there to offer support to the fire crews. He was administering the last rites to a fire fighter at the Twin Towers where he died of a heart attack. There is an iconic photograph of Fr Judge being carried from the scene.”
Mr Horgan says many of the firefighters in New York who died on September 11th, 2001, were of Irish descent.
“They were the same fire fighters who marched in the St Patrick’s Day parade down Fifth Avenue on 17th March, 2001. When the planes crashed into the North Tower and the South Tower, Kathleen, who was originally from Ringfinnan, Kinsale, Co Cork, prepared the beds in the Lennox Hospital for the firemen but none of them were brought to the hospital – 343 of them had died in the towering inferno in the World Trade Center on that fatal day.
“They were incinerated and they had no graves. The attack on New York had a devastating effect on every single person in the city at the time. New Yorkers were mesmerised for days, months and even years afterwards. ”
Mr Horgan recalls that a few weeks after the attack Kathleen phoned him and said she wanted to plant 343 trees attached to the garden of her home at Ringfinnan in honour of the firemen.
“She also wished to plant a special ash tree in memory of Fr Mychal Judge and she wanted every fireman’s name on a dedicated tree. Approximately 50 trees were planted in October 2001 and there was a mini opening at that time. In early March 2002 the remaining trees were planted and an official opening performed by the then minister for agriculture Joe Walsh.
“At the time he noted there were very strong links between Ireland and America, and that nearly 40 million people claimed to be Irish or of Irish decent. He also stated that we were the only country in the world that had a day of national mourning after the 9/11 attack on New York. The ceremony that day was attended by the grandfather of one of the firemen, by uncles and aunts of another fireman and by relatives and friends of other firemen.”
The Garden of Remembrance has been visited by large numbers of people since it first opened, including by some of the families of the firefighters whose names are inscribed on each of the trees.
Rosaleen Tallon’s brother Sean Patrick Tallon (26) was a probationary firefighter at Ladder 10‚ the fire station located directly across from the World Trade Center. He was among the first to respond on 9/11.
“Sean would be so honored by the living memorial of trees at Ringfinnan, growing tall on the hill over Kinsale, in his mother’s native Cork. Sean loved visiting his family in Cork and he was proud to have Rebel blood in his veins. My mom and I appreciate the love and compassion that inspired dear Kathleen Murphy to create the Garden of Remembrance, and the love and dedication of the people that continue to keep the garden going. We have visited the garden every year when we were on vacation and it always gives us comfort.”
There will be a commemoration service at the garden at 2pm on Saturday, the 20th anniversary of the September 11th attack. Present will be a representative of the American embassy, Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney, Mayor of Cork County Cllr Gillian Coughlan, local TDs, Senators and County Councillors.
Tenor Dan Twomey will sing the American national anthem. Fr Robert Young, parish priest of Kinsale, and Rev Peter Rutherford, rector of Kinsale, will bless the trees in the garden.
Some relatives of the deceased firemen have travelled especially from New York to Kinsale to visit the garden because their beloved relatives have no graves, Mr Horgan says.
“They find peace when they see their relative’s tree with their relative’s name on same. These firemen have no graves.”
The 9/11 commemoration garden at Ringfinnan Kinsale is open 365 days a year. It is home to a range of native Irish trees including oak, ash, birch, crab apple, hawthorn, willow and scots pine. The wide variety of trees means that the garden changes with the seasons and has colour and life year-round.