White Crosses Memorial: Dungarvan once again pays its respects to our aborted babies

On New Year’s Day 2026, the 8th anniversary of the introduction of legalised abortion in our country in 2019, Déise4Life held the White Crosses Memorial at the Lookout, Dungarvan.

Tom Doherty of Déise4Life opened proceedings by noting that, with more than 50,000 abortions in Ireland since the 2019 legislation was introduced, each of the 100 white crosses, which we plant in the ground at these memorials, now represents more than 500 individual babies.

Tom recounted meeting a young woman at a house party in Donnybrook in the early 80’s. She was just back from having an abortion in England and was visibly upset at having to abort her baby. Her friends thought bringing her to a party might help cheer her up. But meeting this young woman changed Tom’s perspective on abortion for the rest of his life. When he heard a politician describe “abortion regret” as a “makey uppy” thing during the abortion referendum, he knew that was false and it brought him right back to the pain he saw in that woman’s eyes that night in Donnybrook.

Women hurt by abortion also featured in contributions from other speakers.  Deacon Hugh Nugent who led us in a decade of the Rosary, and Pastor Steve Hamer who composed his own prayer for the occasion, both included mothers as well as babies in their prayers. Pastor Steve also shared a striking verse from Ecclesiastes Chapter 11:

“As you do not know how the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything”.

 
Echoing Ecclesiastes, Steve said that he has absolutely no understanding of the world he lives in, but trusts that God has it all in hand and will accomplish his holy will through all the chaos and confusion of the present age.

Martin Hallissey shared a short poem about the physical reality of the destructiveness of abortion (“One more heart that will never beat again, Two more eyes that will never see light,…,One more mouth that will never know a smile”) and then read a prayer of individual commitment to do everything we can to end abortion.

Dr Jim Stacey concluded proceedings by playing Róisín Dubh, the beautiful but plaintive air from Mise Éire.

    

    

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