In 2018, Peter Donegan was selected by a French Jury to represent Ireland to design and realise a garden in the moat of the 13th century Chateau de Peronne, known as The Historial de la Grande Guerre, in the Somme region of Northern France.
A series of Peace Gardens (Jardin de la Paix) in very historic locations there were to be created to commemorate the centenary of the end of World War 1. The gardens were to be designed and realised by 14 internationally selected garden designers.
The Irish WW1 Peace Garden of the Historial Péronne visited by President Emmanuel Macron Friday 9th November 2018 is now complete. An official Irish inauguration of the garden is set to follow in 2019.
The following post is the story behind and about the garden. Before the build of the Irish garden began is better told in this article by Anthea McTiernan of The Irish Times.