Memorial Garden
Please note that the Omagh Memorial Gardenwill be closed to the public from Monday 4 February 2008to facilitate site works for the newly designed ‘Garden of Light’ memorial. The memorial garden will be reopened to the public in time for the 10th Anniversary of the Omagh bomb on 15 August 2008. Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience caused as a result of this temporary closure.
Design Team:
Landscape Architects - Desmond Fitzgerald Architects
Artist - Sean Hillen
Consulting Engineers - White Young Green
Quantity Surveyors - Nolan Ryan
Planning Supervisor Health & Safety - White Young Green
Contractor - McGrory Contractors
Queries should be directed to Kim McLaughlin, Project Officer, Omagh District Council Tel: 028 8224 5321 ext 289
Omagh’s memorial garden was born out of the tragic events of 15 August 1998 when 31 people, including unborn twins, lost their lives as a result of a bomb explosion at Market Street in the town.
The garden was originally sited at Market Street close to the site of the bomb explosion but was relocated to Drumragh Avenue when work began on the Community House. It was then agreed that this site should become the site of the permanent memorial garden.
In 2007, Design Teams were invited to submit proposals for the design and installation of a fitting permanent memorial to the Omagh Bomb of 15 August 1998. A key criteria was that proposals would treat the bomb site and the site of the memorial garden in an integrated manner.
Following a lengthy and thorough assessment process, the ‘Garden of Light’ design submitted by the Dublin based design team of Desmond Fitzgerald, Architect; Sean Hillen, Artist; and White Young Green Consulting Engineers was selected as the design for the permanent Omagh bomb memorial.
 | The Memorial Garden will be created on the theme of a ‘Garden of Light’ glittering and sparkling as it collects, reflects and distributes the sunlight that shines on us all in Omagh,Buncrana, Spainand across the world, making all life possible. The design is based along the theme that light unites us all in that it makes all life possible. The concept of ‘Reflecting’ connects to reactions to and consequences of the atrocity. The approach to the artwork is that it should attempt to simply, uninhibitedly and vividly express the huge outpouring of compassion for the victims. A mirror in the Memorial Garden tracks the sun and pours a beam of sunlight onto 31 small mirrors which are arranged to carry the light across the road and onto a glass sculpture, incorporating a heart, at the bomb site. Due to its location the sculpture is almost constantly in the shade, however, the heart will sparkle and glitter as it reflects the changing light conditions reminding us all of the presence of the sun and the fact that, while not always evident, we can be assured that it will come out again. The heart will be made by Tyrone Crystal and apparently floats inside a pillar of glass.
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The design of the garden aims to create a simple, meditative space not fenced off from the road but retaining a sense of quiet enclosure by dropping down to the reinstated original site level along a series of gentle steps. Paving is of bright granite flag stones set out so that grass and herbs will grown through the joints. Planting is simple—the much loved silver birch and grassy banks and wildflower meadow which will include swathes of bluebells and poppies, with areas maintained as lawn for walking and lying down. Contour lines, patterns in the grass, planting layouts, paving patterns and circulation focus in a gentle spiral to a reflecting pool in the centre of the scheme. The levels will accommodate those with impaired mobility and the stepped granite flags double as casual seating. There are open paved spaces around the pool and at the southern end of the site to allow people to gather for ceremonies and commemoration.
The memorial is to be in place in time for the 10th Anniversary of the Omagh bomb on 15 August 2008.
