Indicated — Unknown Townland

The following account of this monument is derived from the report on the ‘History of monuments. O’Connell Street area’ commissioned by Dublin City Council in 2003 (SMR file): ‘The decision to commemorate Daniel O’Connell (1775-1847) with a monument in Sackville Street was an important move away from commemorating only members of the Castle administration or the British royal family. Although, at around the same time a monument to Prince Albert was also planned and the Dublin City committee, chaired by the lord mayor, had been recognised by Queen Victoria as the official committee. By April 1862, five months before John Gray inaugurated the appeal for subscriptions of the O’Connell monument, over £2,000 had been collected for the Albert monument in Dublin alone. The origins of the O’Connell monument project date back to 1847 when, after his funeral, a fund was promoted by several newspapers and the Hierarchy authorised church door collections. The O’Connell Monument Committee was established following a public meeting in the Prince of Wales Hotel on Sackville Street4. The committee adopted the resolution that, ‘the monument would be to O’Connell in his whole character and career, from the cradle to the grave so as to embrace the whole nation.’ With £8,362 already banked, the two-ton Dalkey granite foundation stone was laid on 8 August 1864 by Lord Mayor Peter Paul McSwiney. The ceremony to lay the foundation stone marked the first stage in what was to become a dominant landmark and an overt political statement, the occasion brought thousands on to the streets of the capital. The procession moved through the streets from Merrion Square to Sackville Street, led by the committee member, Sir John Gray, and were addressed by the Lord Mayor, Peter Paul MacSwiney, who observed that: “The people of Ireland meet today to honour the man whose matchless genius won Emancipation, and whose fearless hand struck off the fetters whereby six millions of his country men were held in bondage in their own land…. Casting off the hopelessness of despair, the Irish people today rise above their afflictions, and by their chosen representatives their delegated deputies, and their myriad hosts, assemble in this metropolis and signalise their return to the active duties of national existence, by rendering homage to the dead and by pledging themselves to the principles of him who still lives and reigns in the hearts of the emancipated people.” [Freeman’s Journal, 9 Aug., 1864] With the foundation stone in place, a competition for the design of the sculpture was initiated by Dublin Corporation, who had now taken over responsibility for the monument. However, Sir John Gray was also requested to consult the sculptor John Henry Foley whose Irish-born but non-resident status stirred up many debates led by the Irish builder, ‘we most emphatically protest against sending £10,000 out of the country for the execution of an undertaking which, above all others, should be thoroughly national, and as the monument originated from Irish hearts, so it should be sculptured by none other than Irish hands.’ [Irish Builder, 1 July, 1864, 125] The competition went ahead along with the negotiations with Foley and the closing date was set for 1 January 1865, by which time sixty designs were received and were described in the Irish Builder and exhibited in the City Hall. All were rejected by the committee and after a further competition they were still unable to recommend any design for adoption. Foley was again consulted and a concession was made to popular opinion by requesting that a resident Irish sculptor would assist him in designing subsidiary figures, a request to which he did not agree but conceded in having an Irish architect submit designs which he may incorporate into his project. None of the three submitted were considered suitable and Foley went ahead on his own protracted project. In August 1871 Foley presented a progress report to the Corporation and explained that owing to illness and pressure of work, the progress of the monument had been delayed and he envisaged completion by the centenary in 1875. Foley died in 1874 so the monument was not ready in time. His assistant, Thomas Brock, was formally commissioned in June 1878 to complete the monument. The sculptural composition formed three sections, a statue of O’Connell at the top, a frieze in the middle – at the centre of which was represented the 'Maid of Erin', her right hand raised pointing to O'Connell, her liberator, and in her left hand the 1829 Act of Catholic Emancipation. Nearly thirty more figures symbolise the Church, the professions, the arts, the trades and the peasantry. At the base are four winged victories, each of which represented the virtues attributed to O'Connell – patriotism, courage, eloquence and fidelity. There is evidence of bullet holes in two of the victories, a legacy of 1916-1922. The overall height of the monument is 40 feet, the bronze statue of O'Connell wrapped in his cloak is 12 feet high. The figure of O'Connell was ready for unveiling at the head of Sackville Street on 15 August 1882, which was also the centenary of the Volunteer Movement and the occasion of the industrial and Agricultural Exhibition in the Rotunda Gardens, bringing thousands from the provinces. The monument was unveiled at one o'clock to a “mighty roar.....from ten thousand throats when the veil fell at the Lord Mayor's signal'. The committee delivered the statue over to the care of the corporation which the Lord Mayor accepted with a few brief remarks, and 'with a quick touch withdrew the covering from the Herculean figure of O'Connell. At that instant the sun suddenly opened its beams through the drenching rain and gloriously lighted up the Monument and the crowded platform.”’ [Freeman’s Journal 16 August, 1882] Compiled by: Paul Walsh Date of upload: 10 July 2015