Brendan Gleeson remembered the 14 people who were killed on Bloody Sunday this evening, during a ceremony at Croke Park.
The emotional ceremony marked 100 years since security forces brutally opened fire at a Dublin-Tipperary football match on November 21, 1920.
Speaking from Hill 16, the actor read out each victim’s name, as a flame torch was lit in their honour.
Brendan then read a narration, written by author Michael Foley, and said: “Tonight we remember each victim and honour the grief carried by their families down through the decades.”
‘In 90 seconds, 14 people lay dead and mortally wounded on the field and banks of Croke Park and on the streets outside. Tonight, 100 years on, we pause to remember them all: the 14 who went to a match, and never came home.’#B100dySunday pic.twitter.com/pjmQpt8EWc
— The GAA (@officialgaa) November 21, 2020
“We hold the memory of their loved ones close, giving them life again through the sharing of their stories.”
“They come alive again in the stadium in the 10 year old child thrilled by the prospect of a day in Croke Park, in the couple in love at a football game holding hands, lost in the game and each other.”
“They live again in young people making their trip to Croke Park part of one long weekend adventure, they live through older ones going to the matches following the tradition handed down to them. They are our family, our friends, our people.”
President Michael D Higgins and Taoiseach Micheál Martin also attended the ceremony, and were joined by GAA president John Horan and GAA director-general Tom Ryan.
President Higgins this evening laid a wreath at a special ceremony organised by the @officialgaa, marking the centenary of the events on ‘Bloody Sunday’, 21 November 1920.https://t.co/7pCuqCS7QG pic.twitter.com/J9SlR88wuG
— President of Ireland (@PresidentIRL) November 21, 2020
