Harmless memorial or evironmental damage?

loobylou

Was out for a walk today along the Wicklow Way near (ironically) the JB Malone plaque when I came across a new "memorial" consisting of a small cairn and a plaque stuck on a rock. The plaque commemorates a recently deceased hillwalker and apparently marks the spot where his boots have been buried.
This is a trend I have noticed recently, theres another similar plaque on Seefin.
I don't wish to offend anyone but find this a little off. To my mind these are a form of litter, what do others think?

FrostyJack

loobylou wrote: »

Was out for a walk today along the Wicklow Way near (ironically) the JB Malone plaque when I came across a new "memorial" consisting of a small cairn and a plaque stuck on a rock. The plaque commemorates a recently deceased hillwalker and apparently marks the spot where his boots have been buried.
This is a trend I have noticed recently, theres another similar plaque on Seefin.
I don't wish to offend anyone but find this a little off. To my mind these are a form of litter, what do others think?

Did the person die at that spot or were they just a walker and had their boots buried there? If it was the latter I would kind of agree with you.

Wanderer78

Buried in a landfill or buried under some rocks, is there a difference?

loobylou

Wanderer78 wrote: »

Buried in a landfill or buried under some rocks, is there a difference?

Its not the buried biodegradable boots that bothers me, its the highly visible plastic plaque glued to the rock. I don't see it as a fitting tribute to someone who obviously must have loved wilder places.

hmmm

Litter. Well meaning litter, but litter. I don't want our hills full of memorials to someone, no matter how much they loved walking.

I agree that it may be appropriate if it's the place where someone died, it can be a nice tribute, a reminder to others that care should be taken etc. There is a nice plaque at the top of Stumpa Duloigh to 2 walkers who fell to their deaths in the early 00s, a few around the Reeks. If it's some "place where they liked to be" effort I'd be more circumspect.

Peregrinus

You need permission of the landowner, obviously. But I think this also needs planning permission - a "roadside shrine" can be an exempt development, but this clearly isn't "roadside". Plus, if it's near the J. B. Malone memorial it's within the National Park; that may give rise to additional regulation/restrictions.

Even if a memorial is permitted, a plastic plaque is just tacky. Any memorial should be sympathetic to the setting, and constructed out of locally appropriate materials. So, a granite plaque (like the J B Malone memorial, in fact).

jaqian

Is this the cairn in question?

endacl

jaqian wrote: »

Is this the cairn in question?

https://rip.ie/showdn.php?dn=240996

If 'at this spot' is accurate, the plaque should be in Tallaght Hospital.

Books4you

I honestly think it's in bad taste to post the man's
Rip page on here. I think this could have been discussed without that.

loobylou

No, that's not the one I saw but it was very similar. The one I saw had a text reading,
Here lie the boots of

---

----.
In whose good company we hiked these hills.
Never saw the one pictured above but they seem to be springing up more and more.
I've no issue with the more historical ones like Art O Neill or those commemorating the site of plane crashes or deaths but believe the "xxxx was here" type should be stuck on a park bench.

dr.fuzzenstein

Its a small plaque, don't see the big deal. The area I lived in was destroyed with people dumping household rubbish, washing machines, animal carcasses and even a car at some stage. THAT is the real problem. Giving out about a small plaque is just arseholery (OK, maybe a bit much), sorry but that's my opinion. The Irish countryside has much, much bigger problems.

Pat Mustard

In my view, there is a quite an appropriate memorial to some people who died in an aeroplane crash in the Galtees:



http://www.nationalist.ie/news/home/217940/galtee-mountain-air-crash-victims-are-remembered-remembered.html

I think that it depends on the memorial, the reason for it and whether the appropriate permissions were got before it was erected.