Work on Athlone memorial garden brings a sense of healing for local women

A group of local women who are creating a memorial garden at Ball Alley Lane on Athlone's westside in honour of a friend who passed away have said this week that the experience has been very healing.

Friends Sharon Lynch, Phil McKinley and Bernie Keegan have been working on creating the garden on land gifted by Athlone Community Taskforce and hope it will be a space used by the entire community.

"It's healing for us, it's really helped heal us," Sharon said this week.

"Even though it's about our friend, we hope that anyone who has had a loss would find peace and harmony, or something, here. It will never be locked."

What started as an idea to plant a little pot, or something small, to remember their friend has grown into something much bigger. Athlone Community Taskforce donated a piece of land near its building on Ball Alley Lane, which had become completely overgrown and over the past few months, Sharon, Phil and Bernie have been transforming it into a community memorial garden. While it is still very much a work in progress, the trio hope it will be a tranquil space used by the entire community.

"None of us had a pile of experience with gardening, but none of us were ever daunted by the project," Sharon explained.

They worked tirelessly to clear the site, pulling brambles and weeds from the ground themselves and now have a clear space to work with and a vision of how the garden will be completed. They enlisted the help of landscape architect Paula Sharkey, who has given her time and expertise to the project free of charge, and they now have a concrete plan for the space which they hope to bring to fruition in the coming months.

"We had zero funding and we got it to where it's at now with zero funding," said Sharon, who explained that they had some assistance in clearing away the debris as a friend was able to take all of this away with a tractor and trailer.

After discussing the project with a number of people, the three friends contacted The Coosan Men's Shed, which is based in Tormey Villas.

They put them in touch with Athlone Family Resource Centre project worker Aoife Doolan, and since then the garden project has moved along and grown.

Aoife, who had recently established the Athlone Zero Waste Creative Co-op Facebook group, was able to source materials to help in the creation of the garden.

She had been sent a photo of a large wooden bicycle rack and asked if she had any use for it. With the community garden project at the back of her mind, Aoife thought that perhaps this could be turned into raised beds and enlisted the help of the members of The Coosan Men's Shed, who were able to turn the rack into two raised beds and these were delivered to the Ball Alley Lane memorial garden last Thursday.

On Friday morning last, Sharon and Phil were busy painting the beds, with assistance from Paula, who was also advising on the best position for the beds and had produced plans for the overall garden, which is to include a rockery, steps, a sculpture, a fedge (fence made from living plants), a wildflower area, an apple tree, and hopefully a mosaic wall.

Aoife, who is currently one of the resident artists at Abbey Road Artists' Studios, will assist the friends with the creation of a sculpture for the garden.

This will be a female figure holding out her hands, which will be a bird bath. Lynda McFarland of Lowe & Co. on nearby O'Connell Street is donating an apple tree to the garden and the women are hopeful that more people from the community will also be able to provide assistance so that they can bring their project to fruition.

"We have no tools, we don't have a wheelbarrow," explained Sharon, who said they have been bringing their own garden tools with them but there are some items they still need.

They have received a donation of a water butt, but don't have a water source, and they have no storage for items.

Sharon explained that donations of gardening tools, wheelbarrows, bark chippings, and plants, such as rose bushes and herbs, would all be welcome. They would also appreciate assistance from any tradespeople who may be able to help them complete their project, such as landscapers or someone who could help put in a stone wall, a fence or a railing.

The members of The Coosan Men's Shed have said they will help them to level the site, but Sharon added that they would be grateful to anyone who could give their time to help out.

"We are so appreciative and thankful of all the help we have received," said Sharon, thanking the Men's Shed, Aoife, Paula and volunteer with Athlone Family Resource Centre Darren Russell, who have all helped with the garden.

"We are so grateful for everything so far. You can feel the love, and there's been a lot of different connections," said Sharon.

Appealing to people to get involved in the project, Aoife added: "You've got people with skills and craftsmanship and trades working in different services and this offers an opportunity for people to connect and skill share.

That's the ethos of community and why these community projects are so important."

Sharon added that once the garden is complete, it will be open to anyone. She said there will be no rules or regulations around it and if someone wants to come and sit, or they want to plant something, that's all fine, and stressed that it will be inclusive of everyone.

She said it has been a labour of love and added: "It started because of our friend, but I hope anybody will find inner peace or whatever they need here."