I think it’s safe to say that the Irish have a fixation with statues. In Dublin, the streets and parks are clogged with them. Throughout the years there have been over 75 statues and monuments populating the streets of the Irish capital.
O’Connell Street is a prime example of this. At the south end of the thoroughfare sits Daniel O’Connell, the Liberator of Catholics in the 19th century. Dan is surrounded by busty angels, some of whom still bear the bullet scars on their bosoms from Ireland’s rebellions.
To the north end stands “The Uncrowned King of Ireland,” Charles Stewart Parnell, as portrayed by the brilliant Irish-American sculptor, Augustus Saint-Gaudens. The monument reads: “No Man has a right to fix the/Boundary to the march of a nation.” Many a Dublin wag has pointed out Parnell is pointing behind him at the Rotunda Maternity Hospital.
Considering the carnal events surrounding the fall of Parnell, this juxtaposition of words and simultaneous gesticulation on Parnell’s part has not gone unnoticed by the natives. The Daniel O'Connell statue in Dublin. And that may be just the reason why Dubliners love their statues—they get to comment on them and, better still, put words into their mouths.
Other statues in O’Connell Street include the architect of Irish self-prohibition—The Pledge—Father Matthew. Not far from him is a man who was a teetotaler—and one of the great labor organizers of his time —James Larkin. Facing the General Post Office a.
