War dead now in the company of a saint
It was presented by Most Rev Dermot O’Mahony, Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin, to the mayor of Ue, Normandy, from the main altar.
Ue is where St Laurence O’Toole, patron saint of Dublin and former abbot of Glendalough, died in 1225. The Dublin Book of Honour has 5,800 names of those who died in the war.
The round tower at Messines Ridge, Flanders, is based on the exact measurement of Glendalough Tower being the same height (110ft) and the same circumference at the base.
Glendalough Tower was built by monks during the 12th century, probably about 1150. It was most fitting that those whose names are in the Dublin book of honour should be remembered at a tower of Celtic Ireland.
Those in attendance included former President Patrick Hillery; former Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald; former president of the High Court Declan Costello; former Department of Finance secretary Ken Whitaker; former cabinert ministers Martin O’Donoghue, Richard Burke and Niamh Breathnach, Olympic gold medallist Ronnie Delany, members of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers Association and former members of the Oireachtas.
The Dublin Book of Honour is now on sale in the National Museum bookshops in Kildare Street and Collins Barracks, Dublin.
Paddy Harte
Promoter
Book of Honour Project
Island of Ireland Peace Park
Messines Ridge
Flanders
Belgium
