MANY and varied have been the tributes and memorials to those who died or were injured as a result of The Troubles. Even to this day there’s controversy about the definition of ‘victim’ and who qualifies for financial help when left disabled and in distress.
There is, however, one very visual memorial that remembers all those who lost their lives during 40 dreadful years and to date it has been seen throughout Northern Ireland. Nest Monday morning, June, during 22, the Day of Reflection, this touring installation – The Linen Memorial – comes to the Long Gallery at Stormont before fulfilling further invitations.
The sponsor for this event, and one of the speakers during the morning, is Mike Nesbitt MLA, leader of the Ulster Unionist Party. He has his reasons for supporting this venture. “Firstly, art is often underrated as a tool for helping us in dealing with the past and its legacy,” he told me.
“Secondly, people get a kick from seeing their work on display at Parliament Buildings and thirdly, I was attracted by the fact the material was linen, because as a young man I was destined to be the third generation of the Nesbitt family to manage the linen business my grandfather established in central Belfast, only for the business to disappear on the January 25 1973, blown away by the IRA.”
This Linen Memorial is the work of Lycia Trouton who has taken her information from the Lost Lives names list from 1966 to 2006. Although her family left Belfast for Canada when she was a child and she has gone on to travel the world as a noted artist and sculptor, the impact of what was going on in her home town and Northern Ireland in general had a profound effect on her.
Following a visit to Belfast in the late 90s she developed the idea of producing her own tribute, a curtain of delicate linen squares, each one dated and each one carrying the embroidered names of men, women and children who lost their lives.
I first saw this remarkable peace wall in St. Catherine’s Dominican Church in Newry where a steady stream of people came to search for the names of family or friends finding some peace of mind following the personal time of turbulence and heartache that each name represents.
There are 400 squares, each holding a number of names, nearly 4,000 in total, carefully stitched, white on creamy white giving an almost ghostly effect. It’s a very moving experience and a thoughtful touch at Stormont will be a quiet room nearby. There, church, spiritual and Samaritans representatives will be on hand to offer comfort.
Last year in Newry, one women was remembering her friend who’d left her handbag in a restaurant, went back to get it and was killed when a bomb went off inside the the little cafe. Another was looking for the name of a young man she remembered meeting and shaking his hand only hours before he was blown to smithereens when planting a bomb. Someone was searching for the names of the hunger strikers while another woman said: “There was no need for it, aren’t they are all together now anyway and in a better place.”
The conversations too were interesting: “Reminds you of World War 1 and World War II, then The Troubles and what has been accomplished?” “You’ve got to remember Albert Reynolds,” answered one man, “At least he got things moving, that’s what he accomplished.”
Some knew the month, some only had a name but systematically Lycia looked in the Lost Lives book for a reference and then pinpointed the embroidered name. I noticed there were three names under 1966, none in 67 or 68; then came 18 names in 69 and so it built from there.
The names on the delicate squares cover all backgrounds and traditions and are a graphic reminder of a terrible time and the escalation of death.
As I left, a sad comment from a gentle 88-year-old with 20 grandchildren and seven great grandchildren and one of the way, “All walks of life,” she observed as she contemplated the memorial. What memories she must have. Almost under her breath another profound point was from a much younger woman with her: “The sadness is that the people responsible for all this killing will never come into this house of God.”
Who knows? The Linen Memorial of Peace will affect many people as it travels round the world.
Although this event in the Long Gallery is by invitation only, when it leaves Stormont after lunchtime, the memorial will move to the Docks Honesty Cafe in the Titanic Quarter where it is open to the public and there will be an opportunity to meet and talk to Lycia between 3pm and 5 o’clock. For details of a free bus service from Newry and further venues for the Linen Memorial, see linenmemorial.org
Shampoo Warning
THANK you to Josie for this timely warning.
“Don’t wash your hair with certain shampoos while in the shower. Lots of people do but the bad thing is, the shampoo runs down the body. Printed clearly on the shampoo label is; ‘For extra body and volume’. No wonder people gain weight. Stop using this shampoo – start using dishwashing liquid. It’s label reads ‘Dissolves fat that’s otherwise difficult to remove’. Problem solved!”
She adds: “Tell my friends if I don’t answer the phone I’ll be in the shower.”
If only it was as easy!
