URBAN EXPRESSION AND DEPRESSION

Street Photography That Highlights Urban Life

monument

GEORGE IV MONUMENT ERECTED IN 1823

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PHOTOGRAPHED 3 AUGUST 2022

The town was officially renamed Kingstown in 1821 in honour of a visit by the British King George IV, but reverted to its ancient Irish name by resolution of the town council in 1921. This monument was erected to mark the occasion of the visit.
The inscription is as follows:

To Commemorate the visit of the King to this part of his
dominions and to record that on the 3rd of September 1821
His Majesty in person graciously named this Asylum Harbour
the Royal of Harbour of George IV and on the same day
embarked from hence.

King George arrived in Ireland on his 59th birthday in August 1821 and it was expected that he would arrive in Dun Laoghaire. I think that it was spelled ‘DunLeary’ at the time. But for some reason [related to too much alcohol] he first landed in Ireland at the West pier in Howth where his footprints were recorded for posterity.

After spending a few weeks having a great time in Ireland the king decided to exit via Dun Laoghaire which was later renamed Kingstown in his honour. The name did not change back until 1922 when Ireland was independent.

The George IV monument was erected about 1823 to commemorate the 1821 visit. However, the monument was controversial from the start. It was lampooned by Thackeray the poet. Also, it was a target for many protesters and attacks including a bombing in 1970, after which one of the 4 balls forming the base was badly damaged and had to be replaced [if my memory serves me well the ball was initially replaced by a block of wood which remained for an expended period].

THOMAS MAC CURTAIN MEMORIAL IN BLACKPOOL CORK

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THOMAS MAC CURTAIN MEMORIAL ON GREAT WILLIAM O’BRIEN STREET CORK

I think that I first photographed this memorial in 2014 and I have photographed it a number of times since but I never noticed until now that certain elements are coloured. I photographed here in August 2021 but due to a damaged lens most of the photographs were unusable.

The Memorial is located near the church and in front of the Baldy Barber (Dick Moriarty) on Great William O’Brien Street (originally Great Britain Street).

Tomás Mac Curtain (20 March 1884 – 20 March 1920) was a Sinn Féin Lord Mayor of Cork, Ireland. He was elected in January 1920.

On 20 March 1920, his 36th birthday, Mac Curtain was shot dead in front of his wife and son by a group of men with blackened faces, who were found to be members of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) by the official inquest into the event. In the wake of the killing Mac Curtain’s house in Blackpool was ransacked.

The killing caused widespread public outrage. The coroner’s inquest passed a verdict of willful murder against British Prime Minister Lloyd George and against certain members of the RIC. Michael Collins later ordered his squad of assassins to uncover and assassinate the police officers involved in the attack. RIC District Inspector Oswald Swanzy, who had ordered the attack, was fatally shot, with Mac Curtain’s own revolver, while leaving a Protestant church in Lisburn, County Antrim, on 22 August 1920, sparking what was described by Tim Pat Coogan as a “pogrom” against the Catholic residents of the town. Mac Curtain is buried in St. Finbarr’s Cemetery, Cork.

His successor to the position of Lord Mayor, Terence MacSwiney, died while on hunger strike in Brixton prison, London.

1916 MEMORIAL – THE PEOPLE’S PARK IN BRAY

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1916 MEMORIAL – THE PEOPLE’S PARK IN BRAY

This is shown on Google Maps as the Irish Republic Monument but it is a 1916 Memorial installed in 2016 to commemorate the centenary of the 1916 Easter Rising.

THE WYVERN IN FRONT OF McDONALDS IN BRAY – BRABAZON MONUMENT

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THE WYVERN IN FRONT OF McDONALDS IN BRAY – BRABAZON MONUMENT

A wyvern is a legendary bipedal winged dragon usually depicted with a tail ending in a diamond- or arrow-shaped tip. The wyvern in its various forms is important to heraldry, frequently appearing as a mascot of schools and athletic teams

In front of the main entrance to the Town Hall, now McDonalds, and facing down Main Street is a monument surmounted by a wyvern holding a shield with the Brabazon crest on it. The underside of the basin is elaborately carved and the pedestal, which has robust lion heads, has in inscription so weathered it has become illegible.

Reginald Brabazon, Lord Ardee, was the owner of much of the Bray estate in the 1880s.

Reginald Brabazon, was an Irish politician and philanthropist. He is buried in the graveyard of the Church of Ireland parish church in the village of Delgany, County Wicklow, Ireland, along with his wife and son. There are some streets and squares in The Coombe, Dublin, named in his honour: Reginald Street, Reginald Square and Brabazon Square.

WELLINGTON TESTIMONIAL ALSO KNOWN AS THE WELLINGTON MONUMENT

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WELLINGTON TESTIMONIAL ALSO KNOWN AS THE WELLINGTON MONUMENT IN PHOENIX PARK DUBLIN

The Wellington Testimonial was built to commemorate the victories of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington. Wellington, the British politician and general, also known as the ‘Iron Duke’, was born in either counties Meath or Dublin. Originally planned to be located in Merrion Square, it was built in the Phoenix Park after opposition from the square’s residents.

The obelisk was designed by the architect Sir Robert Smirke and the foundation stone was laid in 1817. In 1820 it ran out of construction funds and therefore remained unfinished until 18 June 1861 when it was opened to the public. There were also plans for a statue of Wellesley on horseback but the shortage of funds ruled that out.

There are four bronze plaques cast from cannons captured at Waterloo – three of which have pictorial representations of his career while the fourth has an inscription. The plaques depict ‘Civil and Religious Liberty’ by John Hogan, ‘Waterloo’ by Thomas Farrell and the ‘Indian Wars’ by Joseph Robinson Kirk. The inscription reads:

Asia and Europe, saved by thee, proclaim
Invincible in war thy deathless name,
Now round thy brow the civic oak we twine
That every earthly glory may be thine.

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