Organ Donor Commemorative Garden reflects generosity that grew from grief
When 26-year-old Éamonn Goggin from Spiddal lost his life following a car accident in 2006, his parents Martina and Denis lost their only child, the person Denis described as “our best friend”.
Out of that time of “indescribable loss and grief” for his parents was born a dream that came to fruition on Tuesday in Salthill when the National Organ Donor Commemorative Garden, which celebrates the lives of organ donors and offers people a place of beauty, inspiration, healing and hope was formally opened in Quincentennial Park on Salthill’s seafront.
Éamonn had carried an organ donor card and his parents honoured his wishes when they were asked by staff at UHG about organ donation in July 2006.
That led to their involvement with Ireland’s organ donor community and their subsequent idea to create this unique Circle of Life garden that “oozes beauty . . . heritage and tradition . . .” according to RTÉ’s Mary Kennedy, the Irish Kidney Association’s voluntary ambassador for 2014, who spoke at the opening, an event attended by some 500 people.
The garden’s title Circle of Life, comes from the five two-metre tall stones surrounding the garden’s centre, each of which features a carving and inscription reflecting the different stages of man’s journey through life.
Another design feature is a unique heritage wall with stones from iconic heritage sites in each of the 32 counties to represent donors, and welcome people from all over Ireland. These were procured with the support of the Office of Public Works.
The central stone comes from Clonmacnoise, for centuries the spiritual centre of Ireland. Stones from significant sites on the five major continents give the park an international dimension as a place of welcome for all people.
The Goggins established the Strange Boat Donor Foundation in order to create the garden, working in partnership with Galway City Council which made the site available.
Transplant Surgeon David Hickey, Director of Transplantation at Dublin’s Beaumont Hospital, said the garden imparted an “important and powerful message of generosity and thanksgiving” which would aid the promotion of organ donation and transplantation into the future.
The garden cost approximately €150,000, almost all of which was raised through voluntary donations, fundraising events and sponsorship.
The main sponsors were the Galway/Chicago Sister Cities International movement, and a large group from Chicago attended Tuesday’s opening, as did sponsors from Rhode Island.
See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune.