The CT monument was degraded and nearly forgotten, ‘an absolute mess.’ It’s getting a new home.

In early 2023, when Mike McGarry stopped by the downtown monument that celebrates sister city ties with a town in Ireland, he expected to see neglect.

But what he saw, well, got his Irish up.

“On it was the ‘f-word’ and how do we say it nicely?,” McGarry said. “A phallic symbol half the size of the monument. I was infuriated, absolutely infuriated. It was an absolute mess.”

McGarry, a former Hartford city councilman and local newspaper columnist, channeled that upset into an 18-month quest that is now coming to fruition. The refurbished monument will be relocated from Heaven Skatepark across Main Street to an existing but re-landscaped pocket park over I-84.

“It will be as good a park as Elizabeth Park , I’ve been promised,” McGarry said, of the city’s commitment to maintain the new outdoor space on par with one of the city’s best-known parks.

McGarry and other supporters envision the new, downtown park to be a space for outdoor events and eventually a draw for visitors to the city. Now, it is a nondescript area, often overgrown with trash strewn about it, said McGarry, long an outspoken community activist.

The park also will be increasingly near the center of redevelopment just a short walk away in the North Crossing area that includes Dunkin’ Park , the city’s minor league ballpark.

The gray granite monument is expected to be relocated this summer, with the entire project estimated to cost about $20,000 and paid for the city, McGarry said.

The 5-foot monument was erected in 1995 after a visit to Ireland by then-Mayor Mike Peters and members of the city council. The trip blossomed into a sister city relationship with New Ross on Ireland’s southern coast. Peters — or simply, “Mayor Mike” — died in 2009.

New Ross isn’t necessarily a household name in Connecticut. But the town in County Wexford is steeped in history, including being the birthplace of President John F. Kennedy’s great grandfather.

One famous son of New Ross, Matthew Furlong, who died in the Irish Rebellion of 1798 , was commemorated on the Hartford monument. The uprising against British rule lasted just five months, with Furlough a martyr to the cause, killed carrying a white flag of truce.

Originally, the Hartford monument featured a brass likeness of Furlong along with the story of his heroic deeds. But the brass was stolen sometime in the 2000s, years before the opening of the skate park and its space for street artists to legally engage in their creations.

Over the years, the skate park came to dwarf the monument, leaving it nearly forgotten.

The refurbished monument will again pay tribute to Furlong. But a brass plaque — this time secured with bolts and not glue as was the original to thwart another theft — will expand to include the connection with the Kennedys. The plaque will make note of a JFK statue in New Ross and his great grandfather’s birthplace, now open to the public. Photos are being incorporated into the design.

The plaque also will chronicle the building of a replica of the three-masted, sailing ship Dunbrody, now a tourist attraction. The vessel carried desperate passengers in steerage to North America, escaping the horrors of famine in the late 1840s.

But conditions aboard the ship — and others like it — were so bleak that more than half died even before reaching their destinations.

‘Not just about golf’

When Hartford established a sister city tie with New Ross, Hartford had about seven such relationships around the globe. Today, there are just two.

One reason the relationship between New Ross and Hartford has remained strong are biennial golf tournaments, known as the Kennedy Cup. Golfers from New Ross come to the Hartford area and alternately those from greater Hartford travel to Ireland.

“It’s not just about golf, and we don’t want it to be just about golf,” said Paul McBride, chairman of the sister cities initiatives in Hartford. “There’s the cultural, educational – we sent over a group from the University of Hartford to Wexford where they have an opera week.”

Each year, five or six representatives from Wexford march in Hartford’s St. Patrick’s Day parade, McBride said.

McBride said New Ross as a travel destination also is promoted in the Hartford area.

“You don’t just want to drive through New Ross, they’ve got something to stay for,” McBride said.

This year, about 24 golfers traveled from County Wexford, landing in Hartford last week to compete on four courses in the area. They visited the monument and learned about plans for the new pocket park.

Davy Doran, captain of the Irish group, said time has worn away at some of the connections between Hartford and New Ross, but the golf tournament “really keeps the thing alive.”

“It should be a lot stronger, the communication between everybody,” Doran said. “At least the golf is keeping it going, and we’re trying to get our local politicians involved more, and the politicians here in Hartford.”

McGarry and other supporters say the new park with the refurbished monument as its centerpiece will renew attention on the sister city relationship with New Ross.

Shades of purple and gold

The new park is expected to be christened the “Dan Carey Pavilion at Wexford Park,” after the former clerk of the city of Hartford. Carey was instrumental in establishing the sister city connection with New Ross and the golf tournament.

The area that now encompasses the skate park and what will become the new pocket park was renamed Wexford Park, as part of the sister city initiative.

Carey, who lived in Hartford for four decades and had deep Irish roots, died unexpectedly in 2009 at the age of 51. He passed away while serving as town and city clerk, a post he held for 16 years.

One of his relatives was Eamon DeValera, a former president of Ireland.

Hartford City Councilwoman Kelly Bilodeau was a key supporter of restoring the monument and renaming the new pocket park for Carey.

Bilodeau, who worked with Carey from 1996 until 2009, is now town clerk in East Hartford.

“Dan Carey was a long time mentor and friend that loved his Irish heritage and the city of Hartford,” Bilodeau said. “He was a person of the people, so it is a natural  fit to have a gathering place with his name on it.”

The park will be planted with shrubs in shades of gold and purple, the colors of County Wexford.

McGarry said Carey, who will be mentioned on the new plaque, would have likely downplayed his name being attached to the new park.

“I don’t know if he would have even allowed it,” McGarry said. “But he has nothing to say about it now. We certainly want him honored so people will remember — years from now — who Dan Carey was. I’ve always said what a wonderful guy he was.”

Kenneth R. Gosselin can be reached at kgosselin@courant.com .