The latest addition to the Galway Poetry Trail - a plaque featuring a poem by Sister Finnín Concannon of the Mercy Order, “Ar Bhruach na Coiribe” – will be unveiled at the new Woodquay Park in Galway on Monday.
The poem is an ode to that beautiful calm of Waterside just opposite the Bish Boat Club and reflects the sense of peace and calm one gets sitting there watching the ducks swimming and the river slowly flowing by.
The plaque - the 31st to feature on the Galway Poetry Trail - will be unveiled by Patricia Forde, distinguished author and playwright, former Children’s Laureate and an ex-pupil of Sister Finnín’s. Sister Finnín is a published poet who has spent her life teaching in the Mercy Convent School, where she was much loved and respected.
The Galway Poetry Trail is a series of limestone and bronze plaques dotted around Galway city, each featuring a piece of writing about the place in which they are situated. The trail was launched 20 years ago with the unveiling of a poem entitled “Girls Bathing” by Seamus Heaney on Salthill Promenade. These plaques can be found throughout the city, from The Claddagh and the Long Walk to Salthill and Rahoon, and throughout the city centre, and feature the work of WB Yeats, Pádraic Ó Conaire, Moya Cannon, James Joyce and Rita Ann Higgins, among others.
Each plaque offers the viewer a moment of quiet contemplation, with words to lift the soul in a busy urban environment, and at the same time, celebrate Galway and its people. Sister Finnín’s poem will be the 31st plaque on the trail, and a full list can be found on www.kennys.ie/galway-poetry-trail
The new park at Woodquay will be formally opened by Mayor of the City of Galway, Councillor Helen Ogbu and Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, Peter Burke, on Monday, November 16 at 11.30am, and the plaque unveiling will take place shortly afterwards. All are welcome.
