theliberator

Thanks to a Google Image search - the c. 1843 'original' in colour at the UK National Portrait Gallery, with lots of details - www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw270260/Moral...

And a Megazoomable version at Library Towers: catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000167819

Some details of the 'Clontarf Proclamation' (1843)(see note) - www.theirishstory.com/2011/10/08/today-in-irish-history-o...

An early use of speech bubbles in a cartoon?? Top left.

It's a powerful image. He deserves a decent movie or TV series made about him, although I know it's far less glamorous than shooting people with guns. Keep up the great work, guys! It's nice to know you're all still hard at it despite the mayhem all around us. Stay safe and well!

Both the statue and the plinth are still at City Hall - the statue has been moved inside (seen on the left in this panorama photo), whereas the plinth has been moved to the side (Streetview of plinth.)

Well done Sharon, now show how good you are by getting Dan's baptismal records in his parish register:-)

National Library of Ireland on The Commons Unfortunately, the Caherciveen recordsdon't go back that far :-)

The sculptor was Waterford-born John Hogan:

For at the time that he began to work on the statue, about 1844, O'Connell was long past the prime of manhood . He was, in fact, nearly seventy and had only a few years to live. There was no longer anything of the Greek athlete about him — if ever there had been. Always a big man, he had grown rather fleshy. But Hogan, being a great and highly sensitive artist, was able to give refined statement to the unrefined fact of O'Connell's prodigious physique. Thus, without denying that here and there O'Connell tended unduly to bulge, he designed the classical folds of the mantle to carry one over to the dignity, one might indeed say to the majesty, of the figure as a whole, to the heroic proportions and movement, the splendid shoulders, the magnificently poised head. Again, there is no denial of the unclassical pugnaciousness of the O'Connell chin, but how Hogan balances it by insisting on the fine lines about the mouth, suggestive of mobility, of eloquence, of charm, of humour. Here is where one realises that all the stories of O'Connell's genius as an orator must be absolutely true.

Some Statues by John Hogan by Thomas MacGreevy in The Father Mathew Record, August 1943

Three degrees of separation from Library Towers - John Hogan was apprenticed to Thomas Deane, father of Thomas Newenham Deane, who designed the National Library and National Museum buildings...

“The O'Connell Monument was unveiled to the public on 15 August 1882, on the centenary of the Volunteer Movement and the occasion of the Industrial and Agricultural Exhibition in the Rotunda Gardens. On the same occasion the newly-widened Carlisle Bridge was renamed O'Connell Bridge in honour of its main focal point”

www.buildingsofireland.ie

The winged figures below the frieze, added later in 1883, represent Patriotism (holding a sword and shield), Fidelity (with an Irish Wolfhound), Eloquence (holding a book) and Justice (with a serpent).

The Key Symbolic Entities of the frieze
The Maid of Erin (Ireland): Positioned front and center facing south, this allegorical female figure represents the nation. She is depicted trampling on broken shackles to symbolize national liberty. With one hand, she points up to O'Connell as her liberator; in her other hand, she holds the physical document of the 1829 Act of Catholic Emancipation.
The Catholic Church: Represented by a bishop holding a crosier alongside members of the clergy. This acknowledges the foundational support of the Church in O'Connell's historic mobilization of the rural Catholic population.
The Professions and Civic Leaders: This group includes figures such as a bewigged lawyer, doctors, and civic leaders. This underscores O'Connell's own professional background as an elite barrister and his election as the first Catholic Lord Mayor of Dublin.
The Arts and Sciences: Symbolized by poets, historians, and scholars, demonstrating how the national cultural revival was intimately tied to his political campaigns.
The Trades and Industry: Portrayed by physical laborers, urban craftsmen, and merchants. They represent the emerging urban working class that powered the civic life of the capital.
The Peasantry: Depicted as rural agricultural workers carrying farm tools (such as hoes or scythes). This symbolizes the masses from provincial Ireland who formed the backbone of the "Catholic Association" and the monster political rallies.

Read All Abou It !
Via Trove, an extremely wordy description of the events - trove.nla.gov.au

A relevant excerpt (page 6, col. 1)
"... When the monument was reached, at a quarter to one o'clock precisely, the Lord Mayor proceeded to perform the formal ceremony of unveiling the statue. His lordship drew the cord, and revealed to the people the magnificent proportions of Foley's masterpiece. At this moment a bright gleam of sunshine burst forth and fell upon the noble figure. Cheer after cheer was raised, and loud expressions of admiration were heard on all sides ..."

15 August 1882 was a Tuesday ...