Exhibition of quilts honours 'Troubles' violence victims

by David Flynn

A special exhibition of hand-made quilts representing victims of the recent Troubles period in Ireland will be on display at Athlone Castle until October 24.

At its launch in the castle last Thursday evening, it was said by Kenny Donaldson, Director of Services of SEFF (South-East Fermanagh Foundation), that the Irish government should be more involved with victims of the Troubles.

There are four quilts on exhibition in the lower keep of the castle acknowledging the victims and survivors who came from all sides of the island who suffered as a result of the Northern Ireland conflict.

Among those commemorated in the quilts are Det Garda Frank Hand, whose sister spoke of the impact of his killing (see story here) and Private Paddy Kelly, whose son, David, addressed the launch.

A large gathering of the families of victims and survivors attended the quilt display launch in Athlone Castle, and also attending was, Ian Jeffers who is the Northern Ireland Commissioner for Victims and Survivors, Kenny Donaldson, Director of SEFF, Carmel Duffy, Manager of Athlone Arts and Tourism and Westmeath County Council Fine Gael councillor John Dolan.

Carmel Duffy told the audience that it was the second attempt to host the quilt exhibition because it had been planned before Covid and had to be cancelled.

“Kenny came back to us and we were glad to do it again,” said the Arts Manager.

She said that the quilts remember and honour men, women and children including Irish Army, Garda and Prison service personnel as well as civilian victims.

“The quilts were developed by a team of volunteers within SEFF under the guidance of a project facilitator,” said Carmel Duffy. “The quilts humanise those being remembered and the titles of the quilts on display are ‘Your Legacy Lives On’, ‘A Patchwork of Innocents’, ‘Terrorism Knows No Borders’ and ‘Lives that Mattered.’” We want to play our part in remembering them. Anybody that has seen them so far has been touched by them for so many different reasons.”

Kenny Donaldson said besides the launch of the exhibition he wanted the raise the issues of southern-based victims and survivors, and “what is not done in this State to recognise and acknowledge those individuals.”

“The voices in this room are starting to soar after having been kept down for a long period of time,” said the SEFF Director.

After speaking about the current violence in the Middle East, Ukraine and Russia, he led the call for a minute’s silence at the Athlone Castle exhibition launch for all victims and survivors of violence.

“It’s important that we take the message of the quilts far and wide, because within the quilts it shows men, women and children who were innocent and had their lives cut short, and there was no justification for any of that to happen,” said Mr Donaldson. “Often the Troubles can be marred by politics and people can be fearful of this objective, but the ethos of this organisation is simple - the violence was all wrong whether it be perpetrated by republicans, loyalists or by members of the security forces.”

He also said the key message of the quilts is that violence was futile and totally unjustified and that those remembered were wholly innocent.

“The legacy of those remembered lives on in those left behind,” said Mr Donaldson. “Those in this room tonight are testimony to that. You did not allow violence to break you, it threatened to, but you managed to come through.”

The SEFF Director was critical of the Irish government record in assisting victims and survivors. He said that there are people who were impacted by the troubles in the Republic of Ireland who feel second class citizens from their Northern counterparts.

“There is no designated voice within the Irish government to lead out on victim and survivors issues and that should and must happen,” said Mr Donaldson. “There is an absence of joint-up policy in Dublin on those issues.”

He said there is a refusal of the Irish state to fully embrace the legacy of the troubles.

Ian Jeffers, Northern Ireland Victim and Survivors Commissioner, said in his role he does not recognise boundaries or borders

“When you are up close to the quilts, the stories do the talking and they make my job very easy,” said Mr Jeffers. “You can look at the stories and pain that has been suffered and the hobbies and ambitions and aspirations are captured there. There is a message in each and every one of those quilts that needs to be heard across the island.”

He said the quilts are about telling the truth about what happened and not glamorising or romanticising or trying to change it, but to tell the brutal reality, and about “collectively moving forward”.

“A Tribute to Innocents’, a Memorial Quilts exhibition in collaboration with the South East Fermanagh Foundation (SEFF), will continue until October 24 as part of general visitor admissions.

SEFF is committed to supporting victim survivors of 'The Troubles', and many of these families are represented on the ‘Terrorism knows NO Borders’ quilt which includes; Irish Army, Garda and Prison Service personnel, as well as civilian victims of all forms of violence.