Music to the ears: In celebration of our war heroes
I’d be late for my own funeral. I turned up at the War Memorial Gardens yesterday rather than the Peace Garden. The poor young soldiers who fell in Flanders were, alas, early for theirs.
I put a trot on to join the commemoration where a choir added uplifting music to the occasion and buglers from Flanders delivered the Last Post.
A spiritual experience: The Last Post
Church leaders from eight different religions lent their support to the event and Dublin Lord Mayor Niall Ring, European Minister Helen McEntee and Jan Van Peumans from the Flanders Government placed soil from Flanders Field in the circular monument across from Christ Church Cathedral.
Children from the local school then mingled that with the soil of each of our provinces.
We repaired afterwards to the crypt of the Christ Church Cathedral where we drank Belgian beer and toasted the Fallen in Flanders, 60,000 were Irish, with the young buglers.
It’s what young men do, in every age.
Read my thoughts on Flanders, The Somme, discovering my Great-Uncle’s grave and presenting the wreath at the Menin Gate on my GTi tour back in 2016. Visit http://www.gti-ireland.com.
https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/firstworldwar-in-flanders-fields/(opens in a new tab)