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Proposal to commemorate high king

Monday, 24 March 2008

A DUN Laoghaire local has proposed the erection of a new statue of one of the high kings of Ireland to mark the town’s upcoming centenary.
Community activist and secretary of the Genealogical Society of Ireland, Michael Merrigan, has suggested that a statue of the high-king Laoghaire Mac Niall be erected as part of celebrations.
The centenary in 2021 will mark 100 years since the town officially changed its name back to its original Gaelic form.
Last week, Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council’s strategic policy committee on culture, community development and amenities voted to recommend Mr Merrigan’s proposal to council management.
Dún Laoghaire was renamed Kingstown in 1821 by King George IV, but the town reverted to its original name in 1921 during the war of independence. Michael describes this as a ‘non-violent act of resistance’.

“The restoration of the name to the area, albeit in its original Irish language form, firstly to the local authority, then to the Town itself in 1920 and finally, to the harbour in 1924 was an important assertion of the sovereign rights of the Irish people,” said Michael.
“It was, in many ways, a reclamation of the town and its environs by the local authority for and on behalf of its citizens and the people of Ireland.”
Spirit
Michael hopes that the celebrations would take place in the same spirit as the ‘Dún Laoghaire 1500’ event in 1998 which celebrated the founding of the town.
That event, organised by the local authority, local businesses and community groups, was a great success attracting thousands of visitors to the area during the year, something that Michael thinks could be repeated with his proposal.
In 1998 a plaque was erected beside the railway to commemorate The High King Laoghaire but Michael feels that it wasn’t a suitable tribute.
“In 1998 a small plaque was actually erected on a boulder beside the railway by the organisers of the festival, “ Michael explained.
“However, the depiction of this high king as a primitive half-clad warrior is an unfortunate misrepresentation of the standing and possible wealth of a ruler of a sophisticated society.”
Michael explained the significant role that High King Laoghaire has played in Irish history, especially in the introduction of Catholicism to the county.
“His father Niall Noígiallach (more commonly known as Niall of the Nine Hostages) captured the young Patrick son of Calpurnius who was to become the patron saint of the Irish (Saint Patrick),” he said.
“Though he never became a Christian, his decision to permit the Patrician missionaries to pursue their conversion of the Irish in peace and without molestation had a profound impact on the course of this nation for millennia to come.
“It is a fact that there is not one single Christian martyr from this period in Ireland and this attests both to the sophistication of the local religious beliefs and especially, to the tolerance of the High King Laoghaire himself.”
Mr Merrigan hopes the centenary celebrations will take place between 2019 and 2021.

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