Paul Murphy
Drogheda’s Bridge of Peace is to be renamed the Saint Oliver Plunkett Bridge of Peace following a vote by councillors in Drogheda. Independent Cllr Kevin Callan proposed and Independent Cllr Declan Power seconded a proposal that the Bridge of Peace be rededicated and renamed in honour of the saint whose relic is venerated in St Peter’s Church in the town. Cllr Callan said he was delighted to be able to make the proposal to the national saint for peace and reconciliation in the 400th year of his birth and the 50th anniversary of his being made a saint.
“Drogheda has a very long tradition and a proud connection with Saint Oliver who built a school in the town during the Penal Laws where he provided education for both Catholics and Protestants. The bridge of Peace was built as part of an inner bypass of the town in the 1970’s. During the bitter days of the trouble the bridge was the site of a Peace Rally attended by more than 15,000 people . The chief organisers were Betty Williams, Mairead Corrigan and Ciaran McKeown, who won the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1976, and the American folk singer and pacifist Joan Baez.
