Madden relatives pay poignant visit to Great War Memorial

THERE was very special visit made to the Great War Memorial on Mary Street by one family.

Patrica Tierney (nee Madden) and some of her family, came over to Drogheda recently to visit the site. She is the 85 year old niece of the Madden brothers, who made the monument.

Her father, James, was the youngest brother, and local woman Nicola Carroll explained her Great Grandmother was one of their sisters - Mary Gibney nee Madden.

Nicola has also been researching the Gibney & Madden families of Newtown Platten and Sheephouse for some years.

The memorial was fashioned from a single stone weighing 2 tons by the Madden brothers sculptors from Sheephouse near Donore.

The architect and engineer who designed it was Gerald Barrett of Peter Street – some may remember Fay’s Shoes owned by his son Gerry Barrett, and sister Mary Barrett the former art teacher in Our Lady’s Greenhills.

The monument stone is over 8 foot high and 3 foot wide. This main stone sits on 3 bases and a die stone, adding another 8 foot to the monument.

There’s a plaque on the front that says ‘In Honoured Memory of Those from Drogheda and District who Gave Their Lives in the Great War.’

There are bronze panels on each of the four sides that list the name and rank of the 320 officers and men from the locality who died in WW1.

So with all the stones and the bronze panels, the whole war monument weighs over 10 tons in total!

When it was erected back in 1925 there were railings around the monument, but these have been removed since then.

The first wreath-laying in Drogheda in 1925 was attended by hundreds of townspeople who took an active part in the ceremony, marching with the 400- odd members of the Drogheda Legion of ex-Servicemen, and thousands, present as spectators, added their silent tribute of appreciation.