Memorial benches dedicated in 1916 Garden of Remembrance at Forest Park

SPRINGFIELD — “My mom would have been so honored by this, but she also would have been so embarrassed by the commotion,” Tom Ashe said of his mother Mary Ashe, as Mayor Domenic J. Sarno and Parks Director Patrick Sullivan dedicated two benches at Forest Park Sunday, one for Mary Ashe and another for Leo Doherty of Westfield.

The memorial benches invite visitors to the 1916 Garden of Remembrance, to sit and reflect on the Easter Rising, April 24 through the 29th 1916, in which more than 300 Irish fighters and civilians lost their lives in their struggle against occupying British soldiers.