A MEMORIAL to the victims of the 9/11 terror attacks was erected in Waterford Ireland using a steel girder from the rubble of the World Trade Center.
Waterford City Council was donated a small section of a steel girder from the remains of the Twin Towers in New York to make the monument.
The memorial is located at Bishop’s Place on the Mall and adjacent to the iconic Waterford Crystal factory. And was erected in September 2018, to mark the 18th anniversary of that fateful day.
This year, will mark the 20th Anniversary.
9/11 Memorial Waterford Bishops Palace GardensThe initial site was within a cluster of small trees that are laid out in a grid pattern near the steps up to Menapia Plaza.
But across the road the permanent more suitable location was decided and in September 2018 the memorial was erected.
Local glassworker Seán Egan was instrumental in the project which received support from Waterford City & County Council, local businesses and the Emergency Services. He had earlier worked on a commemorative piece featuring a 9/11 scene, which was donated to the Fire Department of New York City by Seán and Waterford Crystal.
Upon a further meeting with Brewster, Massachusetts Fire Chief, Robert Moran when Egan was working on a sculpture commemorating the Boston Marathon bombings, the subject of acquiring a piece of steel from 9/11 for a memorial in Waterford arose.
Seán, who has built up a relationship with the FDNY, commented:
“We sincerely hope that the memorial is a fitting tribute to the first responders who lost their lives on 9/11 many of whom have Irish connections and it is also in honour of our own first responders who keep us safe”.
The well attended ceremony, which took place on September 16th 2018 in glorious weather at Waterford’s Bishop’s Palace, was addressed by Mayor of Waterford City & County, Declan Doocey and retired Chief of the Mount Kisco Fire Department, Ralph Ingenieri, who was accompanied by his wife Rose and other members of the FDNY. Many members of Waterford’s Emergency Services were also in attendance. Mayor Doocey added:
” We sincerely hope that this memorial is a fitting tribute to all those who died on 9/11/2001 including, 343 New York City Fire Department, 37 Port Authority Police Department members and many other first responders.”
In the initial tender, the council had proposed creating the memorial out of the girder - which is 1200mm (4ft) long and 700mm (2.3ft) in height.
The six Irish-born victims of 9/11: Top row left to right; Kieran Gorman, Ruth McCourt [and daughter Juliana] & Joanne Cregan. Bottom; Martin Coughlan, Ann Marie McHugh & Patrick Currivan (Images: 9/11 Memorial)Remembering the Irish who died 20 years ago
Overall, an estimated 1,000 of the 2,996 people who died on September 11, 2001 had Irish-American links, while six were born in Ireland itself.
Among the Irish-born victims were Galway woman Ann Marie McHugh - who was working on the 84th floor of the South Tower - and Tipperary carpenter Martin Coughlan, who was refurbishing offices in the same building.
Also killed were Dubliners Patrick Currivan and Joanne Cregan, Sligo man Kieran Gorman and Cork native Ruth McCourt - who died on United Airlines Flight 175 alongside her four-year-old daughter, Juliana.
