New York firefighters gather in Kinsale to remember fallen comrades
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A weather-beaten New York Fire Department T-shirt drapes across a tree in memory of Michael Clarke, a firefighter killed when responding to the horror 9/11 attacks, in a leafy Garden of Remembrance in Kinsale.
Photos of smiling young men and American flags adorn others in the Garden of Remembrance, stooped over on Thursday by some 70 New York City firefighters and their families who came to pay their respects to slain friends and colleagues.
The garden was created by Irish nurse Kathleen Murphy who lived in New York City and donated family land in Ringfinnan, Kinsale, where 343 trees were planted, one for every firefighter killed in 9/11.
On September 11, 2001, suicide attackers seized US passenger jets and crashed them into two iconic New York skyscrapers — the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center — killing thousands.
Fire engulfed the buildings, trapping people in higher floors before both 110-storey towers collapsed in deadly clouds of dust and rubble.
Michael V Meyers, assistant chief of operations with the City of New York Fire Department, visited the gardens on Thursday.
“It shows how close we all are as Americans and Irish, to come here and have 343 trees named after our brothers and sisters who died at the World Trade Center, it's incredible," he said.
That day, the very worst of humanity brought out the very best, Ast. Chief Meyers said.
“Out of the 343 who died, I knew about 150 well, including my best man at my wedding and my college roommate," he said. "They responded that day.
“I got there about 20 minutes after the second blast.
“It was like something from a bad movie, a big vapour cloud was coming towards us. Folks were walking towards us with caked-on ash all over them — both first responders and civilians — like in a fog of war.
“That was about half a mile out. Once you got to the site itself, you just could not believe the devastation. I remember thinking: ‘Superman would have a hard time doing anything here’, it was all steel, with two 110-storey buildings collapsed.”
“Unfortunately, there was no one to rescue that day. Only about four people were recovered from the World Trade Centre. The rest, we recovered bodies and body parts. That was the toughest part. Realising 72 hours in there would be no rescues.
Tom Cunneen, NYFD firefighter and pipe player with the NYFD’s Emerald Society Pipes and Drums Band, played at every memorial service for the firefighters killed that day.
“It’s emotional to be here,” he said.
“We played at every funeral and memorial for each of the 343 firefighters who died that day that this garden is a living memorial to.”
Mr Cunneen lost people he grew up with, played sports with, and fellow firefighters in the attacks.
Colleague Durrell 'Bronko' Pearsall, the drummer in the Emerald Society Pipe Band, was killed that day after he responded with a specialist rescue unit from Queens.
Their “beloved chaplain”, Fr Michael Judge, was the first NYFD casualty that day when he died after rushing to comfort people in the immediate aftermath.
“We had an assignment to do, and everyone bravely did it," said Mr Cunneen.
"I remember still putting out pockets of fire in adjoining buildings the next morning.
“It never made me feel prouder being an NYC firefighter. We came together as a city, and we came together as a country.”
Kieran Burke lost 40 close friends, colleagues, and civilians, in the attack that day. His best friend Mathew Burke died on the fourth floor of the north tower. When Kieran’s home burned down later in Storm Sandy, a photo of the pair survived, found slightly singed in a pile of rubble.
Kieran’s life was saved that day by his lieutenant who so incessantly rang the dispatch unit to say his team was ready to go that the dispatcher was annoyed and sent another unit instead.
“I was lucky," he said. "So many people did not return that morning. I do my best to continue their memories.
“It’s extraordinarily important to have these memorials.
“What happened that day was an attack on civilisation, not just on America. At the World Trade Centre alone, people from 87 countries were murdered that day. They were pure civilian targets.
"And it can happen again tomorrow, with complacency.”
Fellow NYFD firefighter Danny McEnroe got married just four days before the deadly attack and was in Florida with his wife when the news broke.
They returned almost immediately to New York to help with the rescue efforts to be met with a deathly, eerie silence in the city.
“It was very ominous," he said.
“It’s great to be here and see what people have put together to remember the guys from 9/11. It’s pretty far away from the site on Wall Street. It’s a great show of support.”
Michelle O’Mahony of OM History Consultants, helped to organise the event. She said that it was a “poignant and emotive day”, especially for the Emerald Society Pipes and Drums Band visiting Ireland as part of their 61st anniversary.
“Remember today that not only are you here among your loved ones' memory, you are now here with friends — old and new.
“Each person gathered here had been moved by the tragedy that unfolded that dreadful day and we stand side by side with you, shoulder to shoulder, united with you in a spirit of comradeship, extending a very Irish welcome to you all.”
Donations for the garden’s upkeep can be made here.