Limerick community group creates memories on a green

TWO green fields in Limerick have been turned into a contemplative space where people can go and enjoy nature - plus remember those they have loved and lost.

Thanks to the stellar efforts of the Thomondgate Residents Association, land at Canon Breen Park and an area between Cross Road and Quarry Road is enjoying the new life of trees with the area now a space for people to come and remember lives well lived.

Scores of people who have made the community on the city’s northside their home are being remembered with plaques, which have been installed next to newly-planted saplings.

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Sean McIlfatrick of the residents group said: “We applied over two years ago for climate action funding to enhance these green spaces. We received funding for 60 mature trees and native Irish hedging. The whole idea is to activate these green spaces, to make them more inviting. To improve the biodiversity and the health of the community living there.”

Remembering loved ones, he added, really gives people living in the estates a buy-in.

“We wanted residents to feel connected to the project. Like it was being done for the community - for them as well,” Sean explained.

Among the people remembered are Ernie Kinsella, who ran the popular pub, and wife Margaret, former residents association chairperson Peggy McInerney, Cyril Rice and Willie Logan, who was known for his stalwart efforts in Limerick athletics.

There is also a rose garden to remember Rose Hanrahan, the 78-year-old whose life was so needlessly taken away more than eight years ago.

After seeing the garden for the first time, her sister Helen said: “It’s lovely to see her remembered like this. It’s very thoughtful. It’s so nice of the community to go to the bother.”

Helen is pictured below with friends, Joan Lyons and Pat Ryan

Some of the people remembered died during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Social distancing measures meant they were denied a proper send-off, with only limited numbers allowed at funerals.

Joan Lyons, wife of the late Michael who died in 2021, said: When he did pass away, people couldn’t come to the funeral. We didn’t have a place to go. Now we can meet up here and remember Michael”.

Sarah Lyons, below, with mother Joan, is planning to personalise her late father’s memorial in the blue-and-white of his beloved soccer team, Queen’s Park Rangers.

“I love that we also have my uncle in the middle of the park - my dad’s brother-in-law. I know he is not here any more. But he has company in this park. He knows the other people who have trees dedicated to them,” she said.

For Debbie Wallace, who lives in Clonlara, the memorial to her late mother Ann Sheehan is so fitting.

“My mum loved nature. She was always cleaning up around the area. She loved planting trees and flowers. It’s lovely she is recognised for the little bit of work in keeping the community tidy,” she said.

Debbie admitted her mum, who died in 2023, would be “mortified” at the memorial.

“But she’d be delighted as well. She’d have been very shy. She’d not have wanted any praise for doing anything even though she did everything for everybody,” she added.

It’s not just a space for locals to reflect - studies of course have shown the planting of trees to have a positive impact on the environment.

Above, Sheila O'Shea and Jimmy and Sam Logan, Thomondgate standing by a memorial tree for Willie and Nuala Logan

Pat Murphy, of the Thomondgate Residents Association, pointed out trees can stop rainwater going into gullies, which is the cause of flooding.

“Trees absorb a lot of rainwater and take a lot of pollution and toxins out of the air. They are beneficial for every community as well as good for nature and wildlife,” Pat said.

The overall project to deliver the new garden is in the pipeline for two years, Sean said.

But it's just the start.

“We’ve put in a lot of work to get to where we are now,” he explained.

“But we want to push forward,” he added.

Tanya Dunworth, the chairperson of the Thomondgate Residents Association says she is “extremely proud” of what her neighbours have done.

Tanya is pictured above, with fellow residents association committee members, Pat Murphy, Sean McIlfatrick, Geraldine Wallace and Pat Ryan 

“What they have achieved is to put Thomondgate on the map.

“By doing this project, we are also educating the younger generation about the climate and how important it is to grow up respecting nature,” she concluded.