AN INFORMATION board honouring the Irish connections of an historic Welsh town has been unveiled this month.
The sign was revealed at Cardiff’s Newtown Memorial Garden highlighting the historic Irish connections related to the public garden.
Consul General of Ireland in Cardiff, Denise McQuade was on hand to unveil the sign on May 15, along with officials from Cardiff Council, and members of the Cardiff Irish community.
The information board at the Newtown Memorial Garden was unveiled this month“The Newtown Memorial Garden is an important site in Cardiff, for the Irish community and the city as a whole,” Ms McQuade said.
“It marks a significant part of the story of Cardiff and Cymru and the strong and enduring links between the people of Ireland and Wales.”
From the mid-19th to mid-20th centuries droves of Irish people made their way to Newtown in Cardiff to live and work.
The unveiling of the board in CardiffThe first wave of arrivals into the area came after the Great Famine of 1845, when workers and their families found work in construction and as labourers for the greatly expanding Cardiff Bay docks.
They were settled in new housing in Newtown which was funded by aristocrat and industrialist John Crichton-Stuart, Marquess of Bute, which led the area to become known as ‘Little Ireland’.
Generations of the Irish diaspora grew up in the area, creating local institutions from churches to pubs, and a distinctly Irish-Welsh culture within the city.
Newtown was demolished in the late 1960s and early 1970s, but many former residents still live in the city and a large share of the Irish community in Wales can trace their ancestry to ‘Little Ireland’.
In 2005 the Newtown Memorial Garden was established, following the efforts a group of campaigners who wished to have the historic town remembered.
Consul General Denise McQuade and Vice-Consul Michelle Ryan pictured with campaigners at the eventThe Cardiff Bay Development Corporation and Cardiff Council agreed to their idea, and the garden, which features a special stone knotwork sculpture by artist David Mackie, was opened off Tyndall Street.
The new sign was unveiled, with the support of Cardiff Council and the Consulate General of Ireland, Cardiff, to provide more information about the history and context of the garden.
The newly unveiled sign at Newtown Memorial GardenThe new sign was unveiled by Thomas and William Mann and their mother Kate Sullivan, grandchildren and daughter of Mary Sullivan, who played a leading role in the original campaign for a Newtown Memorial Garden.
Vice-Consul of Ireland in Wales, Michelle Ryan also attended the event.
“During my time in Cardiff as Vice-Consul, it has been a privilege to work with the city’s Irish community and all the people who are passionately committed to sustaining and sharing Irish culture and history in their wider communities,’ she said.
“I am grateful to all the members of the Cardiff Irish community who enthusiastically collaborated with us on this project and joined us for the special unveiling ceremony,” she added.
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See More: Little Ireland, Newtown, Wales
