WEST Cork is preparing to commemorate the 25th anniversary of 9/11 and the courageous firefighters who gave their lives.

As part of the annual memorial event next Friday September 11th, New York Fire Department  personnel, politicians, friends and loved ones will gather at the Garden of Remembrance at Ringfinnan, near Kinsale.

Among those attending is retired FDNY firefighter Danny Manning who helped with the rescue efforts on the day two planes crashed into the Twin Towers.

The 73-year-old from Manhattan says this year’s ceremony will be especially notable and solemn.

‘This commemoration is for the families of the 343 people who lost their lives. It’s another year without their loved ones, another year without memories to share. But being that it’s the 25th year it’s a bit more notable, at least to the media here in the US who have already started reporting on it,’ said Danny during a phone interview with The Southern Star.

Last year, a group of Irish and US firefighters raised funds for two chosen charities with a bike ride that ended at the Ringfinnan garden, which former nurse Kathleen Cáit Murphy started on her private land. And this year a group of Irish firefighters are  taking their charity bike ride to the US, starting in Boston and finishing at Ground Zero in New York on September 10th.

Danny is moved by the various efforts to remember all of the victims no longer alive because of the terrorist attacks, including nearly 400 firefighters who have passed away from health issues related to 9/11.

The retired fireman and union official says he has an issue with the word ‘heroes’ used in connection with the events the world watched unfold on TV screens.

‘Many people carried out heroic acts that day and some we don’t even know about. But to me, the only heroes were the firefighters and other first responders who did not come home,’ said Danny. He points out that 60 of the 343 firefighters who lost their lives were off duty, many of them with Irish heritage.

‘There is something about the Irish spirit that is very special. People will go out of their way to help each other and this attitude has shaped the FDNY. Irish people have been involved in New York’s fire service since its inception,’ said Danny, who has dual US and Irish citizenship and, as a child, spent many summers with relatives in Innishannon.

He first became a firefighter in Brooklyn in 1979 and moved on to work in Spanish Harlem, where his crew was known as the Barrio’s Bravest.

He retired from active duty in 2003.

‘In the FDNY I met some of the greatest people I’ve had the honour of walking down the street with or crawl down a smoky hallway with,’ said Danny. The dad-of-two is a member of the FDNY’s Emerald Society which has a popular pipes and drums band that played for all the deceased firefighters at their funerals.

Three years ago, the band also performed at Dublin Castle in a room full of dignitaries at a reception for Notre Dame football team in front of  Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and the US ambassador to Ireland, Claire D. Cronin. Danny, who was carrying the Irish tricolour that evening, says it was a memory he will never forget that still brings a tear to his eye.

Since 9/11, he’s only been back to Ground Zero twice. ‘I couldn’t go for years,’ he said and adds that the mantra of the FDNY is ‘never forget’.

Danny is looking forward to returning to West Cork and paying his respects. This year’s commemoration at the Garden of Remembrance will include a special sundown event where a glass will be raised to the lost lives of the FDNY.

‘It’s a very moving place and there’s nowhere like it in the world. Other memorial sites are built from glass and steel but this is a living memorial.’ He added: ‘One thing about the garden in Ringfinnan that’s so wonderful is that it’s apolitical. The elected representatives leave their party politics at the gate.’

Organisers of the commemoration have invited US officials but it’s unlikely they will attend because the 9/11 ceremony coincides with Donald Trump’s visit to Ireland.

‘We have had some very high-profile visitors over the years,’ said John Murphy, the
nephew of the garden’s initiator Kathleen Cáit Murphy who worked as a nurse in Lenox Hill Hospital in New York.

‘This year we are thinking of calling out the names of all the 343 firefighters. A wreath donated by Kinsale Historical Society will be laid at the garden and blessed by the local priest,’ said John. He is part of a volunteer group responsible for maintaining the garden. It also includes David O’Donovan from Kinsale Fire & Rescue and retired Cork fireman Jerry Ahern who has been involved with it from day one.

John says his aunt’s vision was for a peaceful and serene place where relatives and friends can reflect and think of their loved ones.

‘It’s on private land and we don’t advertise it as a tourist destination. Some people just stumble upon the garden. They will recognise the name of someone they know and contact the family of that person who will then come here and visit. That has happened quite a bit.’ 

John added: ‘The garden is changing through the seasons. I often find a fresh bunch of flowers or baseball caps left for the firefighters.’

The 9/11 commemoration at Ringfinnan will start at 5.30pm on Friday Sept 11th.