1848 Tricolour Celebration has moved to June
This year’s 1848 Tricolour Celebration for Waterford City will take place between Friday 28th and Sunday 30th June. Moved from the traditional date of around the 7th March, to hopefully enjoy better weather, which saw first ever raising of THE Irish Tricolour, on 33 The Mall, by Waterford native Thomas Francis Meagher, in the year 1848.
2019 will see us celebrate the 171st Anniversary of the raising of THE first Irish Tricolour by Thomas Francis Meagher, at 33 The Mall, Waterford City. Now in its 9th year, the 1848 Tricolour Celebration continues to gain momentum on a national and international level.
The 2019 events will take place across the weekend of the 28th, 29th and 30th of June. This was planned to be the nearest weekend date, to the actual death commemoration of Meagher, who died on the 1st July 1867.
It is hoped that the new June dates will become a regular in the calendar of Waterford festivals and that the chance of sunnier, warmer and drier weather, will see crowds returning to The Mall on Sunday 30th June.
A number of exciting events have been planned, including;
1848 Tricolour Celebration Timetable
Friday 28th June
- From 10am; Citizenship Ceremony in the presence of Minister David Stanton TD, Minister of State for Equality, Immigration and Integration. WIT Arena will see 700 new citizens swear allegiance to the Tricolour. Their journey to Irish Citizenship starting at 33 The Mall, where a shuttle bus will take them to WIT Arena
- From 6pm; Thomas Francis Meagher historic walk at 6pm, followed by dinner at 7pm in Sabai Restaurant. Sabai is a “Blue plaque” building and the premises where Thomas Francis Meagher was arrested on the 12th July 1848
Saturday 29th June
- From 10am; 1848 Tricolour Lecture Series, the Museum of Treasures. Speakers will include; Dr Jennifer Kavanagh (Lecturer in Law at WIT), Professor Yvonne McEwan (University of Wolverhampton) & Dr Pat McCarthy (Author of “The Irish Revolution”)
- From 7.30pm; Gala Dinner in the Granville Hotel. Keynote speaker Professor Willie Donnelly and Minister Paul Kehoe TD, will address the guest. The Island of Ireland Peace Choir will perform at the dinner
Sunday 30th June
- From 12:30pm; gathering and march with brass bands, military, veterans and friends from Thomas Francis Meagher’s home place, The Granville Hotel to The Mall
- From 1pm; flag raising ceremony on The Mall, outside the House of Waterford Crystal
*(NB All timings subject to slight variation)
Committee Chair, Ann Cusack commented, “We are delighted to introduce our new programme of events for 2019. This year is a special year for the 1848 Tricolour Celebration, as we have decided to move the whole event to the last weekend of June.
A number of years ago we held Waterford’s first ever Citizenship Ceremony, in the Large Room, of City Hall. We are absolutely delighted, to bring a second event to Waterford City. This will take place in WIT Arena in Carriganore, where around 700 new Citizens will be sworn in.
In 2019 we will also be acknowledging the 100th Anniversary of the first ever sitting of the Dail and of course the first ever female to be elected as a public representative. The symbolism of new citizens being sworn in, in the very City that created the Irish Tricolour, will not be missed on those taking part on Friday 28th June.
Our lectures were such a huge success in October of 2018, we decided to run another series on the Saturday morning of 29th June. Speakers will include;
- Dr Jennifer Kavanagh, Lecturer in Law, Waterford Institute of Technology
- Professor Yvonne McEwan, University of Wolverhampton
- Dr Pat McCarthy, historian and author.
The speakers will consider various aspects of the legacy of Thomas Francis Meagher and other areas of historic and current interest.
It is also worth noting that we have secured a terrific speaker for the Gala Dinner, on the evening of Saturday 29th June. Professor Willie Donnelly is well-known as the President of WIT, and in the year which will hopefully see the TUSE application be submitted, we look forward to hearing his views. In addition, Minister Paul Kehoe TD, Minister of State at the Departments of the Taoiseach and Defence, with Special Responsibility for Defence, will also address our guests.
Sunday will see the, now traditional, raising of The Flag ceremony. The addition of a march from Thomas Francis Meagher’s family home and place of birth, The Granville Hotel, will undoubtedly add to the event spectacle.
It will be a full weekend of celebration and most importantly a gathering of friends and family, who acknowledge Waterford City as the home of The Irish Tricolour.”
Once again the 1848 Tricolour Celebrations Event will welcome Embassy Representatives and a number of VIPs to the City. There will be a significant number of military personnel, circa 14, from the 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry Regiment, New York. A visiting contingent of veterans will attend specifically for the Celebration and the Gala Dinner on the Saturday 29th June, in the Granville Hotel (Birthplace of Thomas Francis Meagher).
As with every other year this entire weekend will be supported by a week long schools education series, which will see Thomas Francis Meagher visit hundreds of local school children. The promotion of the representation of the Irish Flag, is the theme of these visits and in this anniversary year, students will receive protocol information on the Irish Tricolour and a souvenir bookmark featuring a timeline of Thomas Francis Meagher’s Life.
Further information can be found at; www.1848tricolour.com and on Facebook; www.facebook.com/1848Tricolour/
The 1848 Tricolour Celebration is supported through the Waterford Council Festival Grants Scheme and Waterford Council.
