Updated 1.13pm
BRITAIN’S PRINCE CHARLES unveiled four new Victoria Cross paving stones in Dublin’s Glasnevin Cemetery as part of ceremonies to remember those who died in the First World War and all of those who lost their lives during the 1916 Rising.
The Prince and his wife the Duchess of Cornwall are in Dublin today as part of a three-day visit to Ireland.
The stones unveiled by the Prince were in honour of four Irish-born soldiers who were awarded the Victoria Cross in 1917. The Victoria Cross is the highest award for gallantry in the British Armed Forces.
The four Victoria Cross recipients whose stones were unveiled today were:
As well as the unveiling of the new stones, Prince Charles also laid a wreath at Glasnevin Cemetery’s Necrology Wall and was given a tour of some of the graves.
Historian at Glasnevin Cemetery Conor Dodd said the Prince was given “a whistle-stop tour of the cemetery and Irish history” during the tour, adding that they stopped at a number of high-profile graves including those of Michael Collins, Éamon DeValera and James Joyce’s parents.
“He had a number of questions about the cemetery and its history and some of the graves we passed by they noted. They were keeping a close eye on what we were passing so I had to on a number of occasions make sure I knew what I was talking about,” Dodd told journalists after the tour.
He’d a good grounding in Irish history, he was particularly interested in the Buckingham Palace conference in 1914, we passed by the grave of John Dillon. That conference was called by King George IV who was particularly fond of Ireland, and his ancestor, and it was about trying to iron out the issues with Home Rule.
The visit of the British royals caused some traffic disputation in the north Dublin city area this morning.
The main Finglas road, the N2, was closed from 7am until 1pm.
A councillor for the area, Fianna Fáil’s Paul McAuliffe, said residents would be affected by the disruption.
“While I support the visit to Glasnevin Cemetery itself, the timing of the closures will cause great inconvenience for people trying to get to work or bring their children to school,” he said.
There were widespread road closures yesterday in Kilkenny, as the royal couple visited the city’s castle.
- With reporting by Paul Hosford
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