Page updated 30 May 2024

University Memorial Event

Event to remember colleagues, students, family and friends

Wednesday, 26 June 1:00pm, UCD Rose Garden

A memorial event to remember colleagues, students, family and friends who have passed away will be held in the UCD Rose Garden on Wednesday, 26 June at 1:00pm. All are welcome.

The event will include spoken word, music and a reflection by Bryan Nolan who has works in the area of end of life dying, death and bereavement. This short event, 30minutes, will be followed by a light lunch. 

UCD Rose Garden

The Rose Garden was dedicated as a memorial garden in 2015 after three students; Eimear Walsh, Lorcán Miller and Niccolai Schuster died when the balcony they were on collapsed, in Berkeley, California. 

The first bench in the memorial garden is dedicated to the students who lost their lives in that accident. The second is in memory of all students who have died while attending the University.  The third recounts a line from James Joyce’s Finnegan’s Wake: “They lived and laughed and loved and left”.

The fourth bench is dedicated to Michael Byrne – Old Man Belfield, who passed away overnight on the campus on 10 January 2021, reflecting the massive number of graduates, staff and students who sent in messages to the University saying what he meant to them and how they would miss him around Belfield.  

The Rose Garden at Belfield House is a beautiful space for tranquility; an oasis in what is normally a very busy campus.  Although walled, the gate is open and there is wheelchair access.  Visitors are welcome to the garden and those who knew Michael may come and sit and think of this gentle, quiet man who was part of the UCD community for so many years.

UCD Rose Garden on (opens in a new window)Google maps

Bryan Nolan

Bryan has worked all his life in the area of end of life dying, death and bereavement. He was a healthcare Chaplain in the Rotunda and Beaumont Hospitals and worked for many years in the Irish Hospice Foundation as a trainer and facilitator for their healthcare programmes. He has a particular interest in how we look after people as they approach the end of life, particularly around communication and how to have those difficult conversations about what matters most to the person. He now works as a consultant providing facilitation and training in end of life care, grief and bereavement and how we can best support each other when someone we love has died.