Alderman Jimmy Menagh Dedication

This evening Mark Tatty Gordon was honoured to be asked to conduct a Prayer of Dedication for a memorial plaque laid within the 36th Ulster Division Ulster Volunteer Force Garden of Remembrance in West Winds, Newtownards.

The large numbers of people who turned out to the event demonstrated the high regard and esteem in which Jimmy was held.

After two very fitting and wonderful tributes delivered by Councillor Steven Irvine (Ind) & Jamie Bryson, both close friends of Jimmy, Tatty spoke the following words.

Reading: 2 Corinthians 4v16-18
“Therefore, we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding & eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

A simple act of dedication, this memorial to the memory of Jimmy Menagh, is a temporary reminder of an honourable man, a gentleman, who selflessly dedicated himself to the service of his country & civic society.
This commemorative plaque, placed here in the UVF Garden of Remembrance, invokes in those who knew Jimmy, fond & cherished memories.
“No one is ever really lost to us as long as we remember them.”
Or as the Scottish Poet Campbell said, “To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die.”
May we treasure the memories we have of Jimmy Menagh.

But this plaque also reminds us, that like Jimmy, we too must one day go as he has gone.
We too are perishing; our earthly afflictions, be they light of heavy, are but for a moment; & I hope & pray through faith in Jesus Christ, they’re working for us an eternal weight of glory.
Briefly we take our eyes of earthly things, the things which are seen; may we see the things which are not seen, the eternal things & like Jimmy Menagh prepare ourselves.

Prayer of Dedication