Up to 100 New York firefighters for Kinsale

MEMBERS of the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) will travel to Kinsale next week to take part in an event to honour the 343 firefighters who lost their lives in 9/11.

At 9.45 am on Thursday, at the 9/11 Garden of Remembrance, a gathering will remember the firefighters and also their beloved chaplain Mychal Judge, as well as Durrell ‘Bronco’ Pearsall. 

The Emerald Society Pipes and Drums of the FDNY wish to highlight the town’s striking garden, highlighting its significance and its maintenance as a living memorial. 

They are traveling with both active and retired firefighters and their relations, some of whom responded on that dreadful day. It will be an emotional part of their trip to Ireland. Each individual tree has a nameplate in honour of each of the fallen firefighters. This is the 61st anniversary of their formation.

Local politicians will attend to hear a welcome address by John Murphy, owner of the garden, as well as an address by Captain Tom Cunneen of the FDNY. 

Between 70 and 100 members of the the fire department, along with partners and families are travelling to Ireland for a number of events, from August 24th to August 26th.

At 11.15am on Thursday there will be a short recital by the Pipes and Drums members outside the White House in Kinsale, with a lunch afterwards, and a presentation by Irish veterans Ron Howko and Declan Hughes to the Emerald Society Pipes and Drums, with a plaque specially commissioned from the Wild Goose Studio in Kinsale to mark the occasion.