The immediate reinstatement of the Ceannt 1916 Memorial Plaque

The plaque dedicated to Éamonn Ceannt, which has been missing from the façade of Ceannt Railway Station, has turned up after four years. Despite repeated inquiries on the issue to both CIE and the City Council from the citizens of Galway, several 1916 committees and some Galway City Councillors, the plaque, its whereabouts and the reasons for its disappearance remained a mystery. The Éamonn Ceannt Galway Action Committee has learned that Galway City Council advised councillors that the plaque was removed due to the monetary value of the bronze amid fears it might be stolen. The City Council also said that they didn’t know where the plaque was and that they had been advised by CIE that the plaque was an insurance hazard as someone might look up at the plaque on the station façade, trip over, fall and sue them.

Subsequently members of the Éamonn Ceannt Galway Action Committee requested a meeting with CIE representatives at Ceannt Station. After a few phone calls, this morning we met with the Station Master of Ceannt Station who was both co-operative and generous with his time. He explained that the plaque was safe on the inside wall of Ceannt Station and that it had been removed over four years ago from the front façade of the station for slight repairs and cleaning in Dublin before being returned to Galway. Our committee members viewed the plaque and expressed our desire to have it returned to its rightful place as a matter of urgency. Our representatives explained to the Station Master that at the first public meeting of the 1916 – 2016 Committee in September, members of the public were irate that the plaque had been removed from the front façade of the building without notice or reason.

This strange amnesia about the whereabouts of the plaque by the City Council is bizarrely compounded when one considers that the council stated in planning procedures/stipulations for the refurbishment of Ceannt Station in 2014 that one of fifteen caveats to any refurbishment going ahead was that the plaque had to be put back in its original place. The Éamonn Ceannt Galway Action Committee believes that this strange turn of events amounts to the denationalisation of public space. Our committee demands that as part of the 1916 National Commemorative Programme, the plaque be immediately restored. We hope that both Galway City Council and CIE take on board the views of the general public and rightfully remember the legacy of Éamonn Ceannt by addressing this issue.


Éamonn Ceannt Action Group    Contact the author of the petition