Omagh Memorial and Garden

Desmond Fitzgerald Landscape Architects and artist Sean Hillen, were appointed through an open competition to design a memorial garden to commemorate the victims of the Omagh Bombing. The competition brief called for a design that would link two locations - the bomb site and a memorial garden some 200 metres away. 

The approach to the memorial garden is to create a “Garden of Light” gently glittering and sparking as it collects, reflects and distributes the sunlight. The garden consists of lines of small mirrors arrayed around a reflecting pool, backed up by a grassy bank planted with silver birches and wildflowers.

A mirror in the memorial garden tracks the sun, pouring constant beams of sunlight onto 31 small mirrors one for each of those killed by the bomb. The small mirrors are arranged to carry the light to a heart-shaped sculpture located at the site of the explosion, a place which is almost constantly in the shade. The heart shaped sculpture will be of cut-glass crystal and will give the illusion of floating inside a pillar of glass. The heart will sparkle and glitter with the light.

The garden also takes its cue from the concept of “REFLECTION”; to be a meditative space. A space not fenced off from the street but retaining a strong sense of quiet enclosure, achieved in part by a change in level. The design language of the garden resonates with the austerity of Great War memorials.

The garden is paved in light granite flag stones. The palette of planting is restrained - silver birch (a pioneer species in disturbed land) and grassy banks which will include swathes of bluebells in spring and poppies in summer. Despite requiring changes in level the garden is universally accessible.  The granite flags at stepped areas are designed to double as casual seating.

Open paved spaces around the pool and at the southern end of the site allow people to gather for ceremonies and commemoration. The layout of the garden space is governed by the need for a clear light path to the memorial. Thus any tree planting can only be located to the north and east of the site. This in turn ensures that the sun will penetrate the park when it is most appreciated - from late morning through to the evening.

Seán Hillen is an artist and is best known for his series ‘Irelantis’; a collection of scalpel and glue collages influenced by the famous picture postcards of John Hinde (www.seanhillen.com).

Desmond Fitzgerald is a landscape architect and architect ­­based in Dun Laoghaire, Dublin (www.dfitzarchitects.ie).