Eyre Square
John F. Kennedy Memorial Park is an inner-city public park in Galway, Ireland, formerly officially named Eyre Square (Irish: An Fhaiche Mhór) and still widely known by that name. The park is within the city centre, adjoining the nearby shopping area of Williams Street and Shop Street.
The park is rectangular, surrounded on three sides by streets that form the major traffic arteries into Galway city centre; the West side of the Square was pedestrianised in 2006.
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[edit] History
The origin of the square comes from medieval open space in front of town gate, known as The Green. Mostly markets took place in northern part of the space. The earliest endeavour to glamourize it were recorded in 1631. Some ash-trees were planted and park was enclosed by wooden fence. In 1801 General Meyrick raised stone wall around the square, which was later known as Meyrick Square.[1]
In the middle of the 19th century the whole park underwent a redevelopment in Georgian style. In the 1960s full-scale reconstruction started and iron railings were removed and raised around the backyard of St. Nicholas' Church. In 1965 the park reopened with a new name: John F. Kennedy Memorial Park.[2]
The plot of land that became Eyre Square was officially presented to the city in 1710 by Mayor Edward Eyre, from whom it took its name.[3] In 1965, the square was officially renamed "Kennedy Memorial Park" in honour of US President John F. Kennedy, who visited Galway city shortly before his assassination in 1963.[3] A redevelopment work of the square began in 2004.[4] There was some controversy when it was reported that the building contractors had left the site and were not returning.[5] The square reopened on 13 April 2006 after costing €9.6 million.[6] The finished square received Irish Landscape Institute Design Award in 2007.[7]
In October 2011 Occupy Galway began in Eyre Square as part of the global Occupy Movement.
[edit] Statues and attractions
There were two large, cast-iron cannon which were presented in recognition of the service of the Connaught Rangers, an Irish Regiment in the British Army, in the Crimean War.[8] A statue of Irish language writer Pádraic Ó Conaire was erected in the memory in 1935.[8] However during the redevelopment works, this was removed and it now resides in the new Galway city Museum in the Spanish Arch area of the city. There is a bust of a portrait of U.S. President John F. Kennedy in the park.[8]
The Browne doorway is also another attraction in Eyre Square as it was originally the doorway of the Browne families home on Lower Abbeygate Street and it was moved in 1905 from Abbeygate street to Eyre Square.
[edit] References
- ^ Walsh, P: Discover Galway, pages 102-103. The O'Brien Press Ltd., 2001.
- ^ Walsh, P: Discover Galway, pages 103. The O'Brien Press Ltd., 2001.
- ^ a b "Galway-Eyre Square". Galway online. http://www.galway1.ie/sights/square.html. Retrieved 2007-09-02.
- ^ "Eyre Square Enhancement plan". Galway city.ie. http://www.galwaycity.ie/AllServices/ParksandRecreation/ProjectsandSchemes/EyreSquareEnhancementProject/. Retrieved 2007-09-02.
- ^ "More difficulty for Eyre Square redevelopment". RTE.ie. http://www.rte.ie/news/2005/0627/galway.html. Retrieved 2007-09-02.
- ^ "Eyre Square reopens". Breakingnews.ie. http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/?jp=CWOJMHIDIDQL. Retrieved 2007-09-02.
- ^ "Third award for Eyre Square". Siac construction. http://www.siac.ie/siac/index.jsp?pID=93&nID=104&aID=281. Retrieved 2007-09-02.
- ^ a b c "Eyre Square / Kennedy Square". Galway.net. http://www.galway.net/galwayguide/todo/sights/eyresquare/. Retrieved 2007-09-02.
