Memorial quilts to remember victims

Memorial quilts to remember victims

23 October 2024

AROUND 25 innocent victims of the Troubles from South Down will be remembered as part of a patchwork quilt display at Down Cathedral in Downpatrick.

The exhibition, which opens on Friday features eight Memorial Quilts, including one titled, “Diversity in Life, Unity in Remembrance”.

This quilt – which honours 100 victims, a quarter of them from South Down – will be dedicated in a special service at Down Cathedral on Sunday at 3.30pm.

Among those remembered are Samuel Pollock (19), who was killed by an IRA bomb in Newcastle in 1982, and RUC Reserve Constables Billy Finlay (55) and Jimmy Ferguson (53) who were shot dead by the IRA in Downpatrick in 1983.

The two reservists were on foot patrol and had just left a sweet shop when they were gunned down. Both were married fathers-of-three.

The exhibition is organised by SEFF which provides practical and emotional support individuals who have been through traumatic experiences as a consequence of The Troubles.

SEFF director Kenny Donaldson said volunteers from his organisation had made the quilts which commemorate 600 “innocent victims” from across Northern Ireland.

“The quilts humanise those being remembered who may be said to be ordinary people but who were actually extraordinary to those who they were known to best”.

“Their individual patches seek to promote the identity of the individual, so sports symbols, hobbies, depictions of family, cultural interests etc are all reflected. There are also some symbols which illustrate Peace such as; doves and the Quilt title is a representation of genuine Peace and Reconciliation – Diversity in Life, Unity in Remembrance.”

Mr Donaldson said the venue of Down Cathedral, with its historical background, was a fitting and a “sacred space” for the memorial quilt dedication.

The service on Sunday, at 3.30pm, will led by Bishop David McClay and the Rev Adrian Dorrian and will be followed by refreshments in the Saint Patrick Centre.

Mr Donaldson stressed that one of the messages contained in the exhibition is the futility of violence and the need to remember the innocent people whose lives were taken.

 “Each of the quilt brand titles reflect core messages we wish to represent through the lives being remembered and also honoured. 

“The basis for the quilts can be found in comments made by many families: ‘no-one remembers us, no-one cares, we are forgotten’. The SEFF family always remembers and will continue to do so in the months and years ahead, thus ensuring that the legacy of innocents and the way in which they chose to live their lives is represented”.

“Men, women and children from across the community and who were murdered/killed in Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Great Britain and mainland Europe will be remembered.”

Mr Donaldson said he hoped that many individuals as well as school and community groups would visit the exhibition.

He said those who see the quilts are left with mixed emotions. 

“There are expressions of guilt that certain cases may have been forgotten and also, people remark upon the diversity of innocents remembered from across different backgrounds - where orange sashes and gaelic symbols or rosary bead depictions sit side by side. There is real power in this.”

The exhibition runs from Friday to Thursday, November 7.

The Saint Patrick Centre is also hosting an education outreach seminar on Monday, November 4, where local schools will engage with a panel of victims and survivors impacted by both republican and loyalist violence.