This is a 1954 Marian Statue erected by the locals, across the road from Our Lady Queen Of Peace church, and it may be of better quality than most and as you can see from my photographs it is very well maintained.
The spelling of Roxborough has sometimes been shortened to Roxboro, largely due to the modern spelling of the “Roxboro Road” in Limerick City (R511), which runs from the top of William Street all the way out to Roxborough. In more recent years, a number of businesses in the Rathbane and Galvone areas of Limerick City have erroneously begun to use “Roxboro” as their address in the belief that that part of the city was once part of the townland of Roxborough. This has been reinforced by the misuse of Roxborough on directional roadsigns on a section of the N18 from the Limerick Tunnel to the Junction 1 exit. It is clearly evidenced on the Ordnance Survey of Ireland’s 6″ maps (1829–41) that this is not the case.
Roxborough is a townland in County Limerick, Ireland comprising some 24.02 km2. It lies to the south of the townlands of Ballysheedy and Routagh and to the east of the townland of Ballyclough. Its northern boundary, partially bounded by the Ballyclough River, lies some three kilometres to the south of the Limerick City boundary at Southill. The Limerick to Fedamore road (R511) bounds the west side of Roxborough.
Roxborough was historically part of the civil parish of Caheravally and the Barony of Clanwilliam and comprised 526 acres, two roods and five perches. Roxborough is in the Roman Catholic parish of Donoughmore and Knockea, which lies in the Diocese of Limerick. It is also part of the catchment area of South Liberties GAA Club.
I cannot find any information specific to this Marian statue on Evergreen Street in Cork other than it dates from August 1954.
In 1953 Pope Pius ordered a Marian year for 1954, the first in Church history. It was called to commemorate the centenary of the definition of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary. The Marian year, which ran from December 1953 to December 1954, was filled with Marian initiatives, in the areas of Mariology, cultural events, and charity and social gatherings.
If you are not from Ireland you may be unaware of ‘Marian Statues’ and if you are younger than 35 or 40 you may also be unaware of them and even if you pass any of them on a daily basis you may not have given them much thought.
There are about 20 or 30 in Dublin alone and most of them are located on public land in what were working class areas back in the 1950s. One or two are located on private property with the statue at Broadstone Station being one example. I do not know how many are located in Cork city but every time I visit I discover one or two more.
Most were financed and erected ahead of the Marian Year of 1954 when entire communities mobilised to have a statue in their area. If you were female and you were born in 1954 there is a very strong possibility that your name is Marian or some version of that name.
The majority are still well-kept and regularly maintained by a dedicated groups or dedicated individuals but at times it can be difficult to determine who actually maintains them.
There was a Marian Year in 1987 but it had very little impact in Ireland especially when it came to statue building. I lived in Stillorgan, Dublin, from 1960 until 1985 and I was convinced that there was a Marian statue in the area well before 1986 but the Marian Statue has a plaque stating that it was erected in was erected in 1986.
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