Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
A PARK DEDICATED to the memories of the Irish volunteers who died in the 1798 Rebellion will be officially reopened today after it was closed in 2012.
The Croppies Acre Memorial Park on Wolfe Tone Quay closed to the public in 2012 after the Office of Public Works (OPW) – who maintained the park at the time – said that they couldn’t keep it safe for the public.
The park is located close Heuston Station and in front of the National Museum at Collins Barracks on the north side of the River Liffey.
It was designed and laid out in 1998, a year after the Decorative Arts section of the National Museum was opened at Collins Barracks.
However, it was a regular site of anti-social behaviour and drug use throughout the years.
Hypodermic needles were regularly found at the park, and in September 2012 the OPW said that it didn’t have the budget to keep to park safe for the public and permanently padlocked the gate.
The closure came just one year after about €35,000 had been sunk into restoring the park.
In October 2013, a volunteer society undertook a clean up of the park and found multiple used syringes.
The management of the park was handed over to Dublin City Council by the OPW in 2013 and the council’s Parks and Landscapes Services carried out extensive works on it to upgrade it and make it more accessible for the public.
The council said that in total the works cost about €120,000.
Mass grave
Matt Doyle, of the voluntary National Graves Association – which lists and maintains the graves of Irish patriots – said that the organisation was “very happy” that the park was reopening.
“The park used to function very well but then closed due to the lack of funding,” he said.
As well as being a memorial to the Irish rebels who died in the 1798 United Irishmen Rebellion, the park is also home to the Anna Livia sculpture since 2011, which used to sit on O’Connell Street in the place of the Spire.
Recent proposals for the Liffey Cycle Route – a cycle path that would cut through part of the park – have been met with protest from the NGA, which doesn’t want the area disturbed.
The path has also been objected to by a number of city councillors over the fact that a section of it would cut through the memorial park – which many organisations believe is a mass burial ground.
The NGA contend that the park is a mass burial site for rebels who fought in the failed 1798 Rebellion – commonly referred as Croppies due to their close cut hair which mimicked the style of the French revolutionaries at the time.
The NGA and others state that the site was used as a burial site for the Croppies after the rebellion. Matthew Tone, a brother of Theobald Wolfe Tone is reported to be buried there.
However, this fact is disputed by other groups. A recent report carried on behalf of Dublin City Council by Archaeology Plan – a heritage consultancy company – found that the remains may not be buried in the park at all.
The newly renovated park has a new circulatory path system, an upgrading of the existing pedestrian gates and a new pedestrian gate has been installed at the south west end.
Leslie Moore, the city park superintendent for the council said that the new renovation would “benefit the local population and visitors to the city”.
“I would like to thank all involved in making what is essentially a new park available to the people of Dublin,” he said.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Chris Evans more than twice as much as Graham Norton!? There’s more than sexism going on there!
@John Walker: You should bear in mind that that doesn’t include his talk show.
The BBC pay his Production Company which then pays him (or he pays himself…….. if you know what I mean).
I suspect that’s a damn GOOD salary over and above his actual BBC salary.
@John Walker:
Chris Evans is an irrepressible genius, he’s ginger, he’s original, creative, cutting edge, climbing the greasy pole of stardom trough sheer force of personality, money is not his goal, he’s already blown 80 million on cars and booze, when he began dating Billy Piper he bought her a silver Ferrari full of roses, she couldn’t even drive, Chris is car crash TV, when he gets bored he goes drinking and gets sacked then starts again, Chris personifies the idiom ‘You can’t keep a good man down’.
Compared to Chris Graham Norton is pure tedium.
@John Walker: being a good negotiator?
“The BBC’s highest paid woman is Claudia Winkleman”
Who? Exactly.
I 100% agree with equal work for equal pay. But you can’t compare salaries for people who have different levels of exposure, higher ratings, and different jobs on different shows. That’s not comparing like with like.
The only fair comparison here would be to compare 2 BBC news readers – since they actually have the same job on the same show & do the same amount of work.
@Conor Byrne: When you look at the likes of Chris Evans and Graham Norton who both had successful radio and TV shows last year when these contracts were paid. The large salaries they can command are based soley around their personalities rather than something like a large popular show like Come Dancing which, though popular, is not centered around any one personality.
For this reason the “stars” can command the big money and, rightly or wrongly, that’s just the way it is. Inevitably this will be compared to America where the “Stars” can command many times these salaries and women like Oprah and Judge Judy Sheindlin earn vast sums us mere mortals can only dream of. It’s not sexism, it’s just business, and the entertainment business is cut throat.
Jaysus, when Tubridy and Duffy and company hear about this there is bound to be a strike. They aren’t on anywhere near that cash
@Nick Allen: per head of listenership and population, the BBC presenters are on less than their RTE counterparts.
@Nick Allen:
Given the difference in population,shouldn’t Duffy,Untidy,etc be on a fifteenth of what Norton(a real presenter ) makes..around 60,000 seems fair..
@Dermot Lane: Yes – but there are dozens and dozens of stations, from regional to specialist.
@Nick Allen: the Tv licence isnt been used to pay the BBC crew tho, and there would be a slightly higher viewship for the BBC than RTE
@Fank Pulman: true but Evans gets 15 million on BBC
That’s F ing Scandalous!!!
Chris Evans £2million++ He should be pushed onto some obscure satellite tv channel somewhere not paid that much for nothing!
@Dub_Right: Evans entertains over twice the population of our country – everyday on BBC radio, as well as a good few here!!
@Dub_Right: i dont like him at all, he was a disaster on top gear but he has 15 million listeners !
@Dub_Right: Probably includes his Top Gear contract for the year in question.
@Fank Pulman: Evans has over 15 million listeners.
Claudia Winkleman earns almost half a million £££ per year – utterly mind boggling.
@John Ryan:
She spends almost as much on makeup to be fair
I see Graham’s agent negotiating a healthy pay rise at the next contract discussions
@Nick Allen: Doubt it, he get’s paid for his talk show via his Production company. His BBC salary would be for things like Eurovision etc.
Probably the best broadcasting organisation in the world. It won’t stop wingers here winging though.
How much is Bana of Aleppo on? The young girl ‘tweeting’ from Aleppo in Syria about the bad man Assad; a story pushed by the BBC and most other MSM? All the while her father was a local nusra man(terrorist) and her mother, an English teacher, put words in the little girls tweets and used her daughter as a propaganda tool against the Assad Government.
http://21stcenturywire.com/2017/07/18/uk-column-news-western-media-continue-to-cash-in-on-the-bana-of-aleppo-myth/
The BBC have always done lite entertainment well. Well done. However on the other side, they have been instrumental in the death and destruction of millions of people across the world in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and Syria, as lead propagandists for the industrial military complex of the UK and US and their allies.
I’m sorry but what does Chris Evans actually do for the BBC?
@Sorcha Hendry:
Brings in 15 million listeners to his radio show.
Actually, it’s just over 9 million, but I take your point.
@Tweety McTweeter: Good radio show it is too – I’m still listening to BBC Radio 2 all day at work (except for Jeremy Vine, podcasts fill that gap) since last Christmas – great music choice (with minimal repeats!), the lack of sports news and, especially, ads, means I would never go back to Irish commercial radio. The pay mentions today may be high in some cases, but is more than justified in most, especially when competing with attempted poaching by the commercial sector.
Got to love Linekar. King of the cheesy pun.
@methodical2020:
The BBC make some great programs for both TV and radio
Is nobody gonna mention Stephen Nolan being one of the highest paid in the UK 400-499,000 per year!?! You know Nolan, the fat guy on BBC NI that shouted at a politician via video link on that Miriam Callaghan show a while back…How is his wage justified?
@Meanderingsz: He broadcasts every week day on BBC Radio Ulster, BBC Radio 5 Live from Thursday to Sunday and presents his own live TV show from Belfast!
Happily his weight doesn’t effect the excellent content of his shows.
Jaysus Ryan Turbidity is a bargain – sponsored by RTE
How can RTE keep our stars , when the BBC is paying ‘proper’ salaries ? Please dont send this article to Tubbs or Marian ….
That’s Racist
@Jonathan Stapleton: The other BBC.
LOL! Comments of the week.
Chris Evans and Graham Norton worth every pound
Is it any wonder the toothy chap can buy Ferraris at 20 million a pop
The mind boggles
When will we see how much we pay our creaturs?? And when will they get reasonable rates?
The real question here is who the hell is Jermey Vine?
@Daniel Murray: BBC Radio 2 show between 12 and 2 weekdays. I listen to Radio 2 every day at work, but I skip his slot with podcasts – not my scene, but he’s obviously popular enough in the UK.
And linekar still feels the need to advertise crisps
Gary Lineker on £1.7 million? There are footballers who…. oh wait. Sorry.
Pity they couldn’t have a Transfer Market like in the Soccer Leagues,
Turgid Tubridy needs to go there to get paid commensurate to his talents…
@George Salter: Guess why all the “stars” are still at RTE… actually, RT stood in for Graham Norton on his BBC Radio 2 show last year – not sure how it went, but I see that Alan Carr and Mel Sykes are doing it this year.
two fools to be honest……victims of ZIONIST extremism !!
How the hell can the BBC even employ that human disaster zone that is Victoria Derbyshire ? Every single human tragedy story is jumped upon and squeezed for every bit of drama and sensational aspect she can find….She,and her production team,are purveyors of human suffering and couldn’t give the tiniest of damns about the people in terrible situations that they cruelly exploit
Who cares . I for one haven’t heard of any of them in years . Let them off
to be honest what person in thier right mind give a f** about these two muppets ? seriously ? c’mon journal surely your better than this shiiiiiiiiite !!!
have your say