Council plans a new statue to honour revolutionary women, on O’Connell Street

In 2018, Dublin City Council agreed to add a statue of Constance Markievicz, the 1916 rebel and the first woman elected to parliament in the UK, to O’Connell Street.

Seven years on, it isn’t up yet.

Part of the reason is that councillors later decided that they wanted a bigger monument – one to mark the contribution of women who took part in the struggle for independence.

About four years after the plan for the Markievicz statue was agreed, in January 2022, councillors agreed to change the brief, according to a council report.

“We decided it would be a monument to the women of the revolution,” says independent Councillor Vincent Jackson, who chaired a working group to deliver the new monument.

Social Democrats Councillor Cat O’Driscoll said, “We tell people that women are not important by not representing them in public art.”

The council needs to do more to rebalance representation, she says.

Councillors want the statue to be big, says Jackson, and ideally located in front of the GPO.

Council engineers said that the spot is used for the maintenance of the Spire, says Jackson.

But councillors are not giving up on their preferred space. “As my late mother would say, ‘Where there is will there’s a way,’” he says.

Procuring a new monument

“Markievicz has been honoured in a number of ways,” says Sinn Féin Councillor Mícheál Mac Donncha. “So it would be better to honour all of the women of the revolution.”

Markievicz was hugely popular, an artist as well as a rebel soldier, suffragette, and politician, but there is already a statue of her in Townsend Street and a bust in Stephen’s Green.

O’Driscoll, the Social Democrats councillor, said she wanted a statue of an individual woman because there are so many statues of men in the city. But councillors decided on a large monument to commemorate the women of the revolution.

Many women contributed to the struggle for independence behind the scenes, says O’Driscoll. They hid weapons, sheltered people and served as medics, she says.

The council is also planning an artists’ symposium, says the report, focusing on the revolutionary decade and the role that women played in it.

“Art is a very subjective thing,” says Jackson, the independent councillor. He expects that international artists as well as Irish artists will be interested in the brief for such a prominent monument.

The plan is for the council to develop five or six potential models to put forward for public consultation, so people can get involved in choosing the new monument, he says.

The council has set aside €1 million for the project, and council CEO Richard Shakespeare has indicated that more money will be found if necessary, says Jackson.

It will likely cost more like €2 million, he says.

Councillors emphasised the importance of scale. They envisage a large monument that will draw the attention of tourists. “We have to be big and bold,” says Jackson.

What’s the hold-up?

The council report from February 2023 says there is an issue finding the space for another statue on O’Connell Street.

“It was agreed that there is no space north of the Spire which already includes the relocated statue of Fr Matthew and because of the Luas line which travels along the central median from this point,” says the report.

The spot in between the O’Connell monument and the statue of William Smith O’Brien isn’t considered large enough for the scale of the monument envisaged, it says.

“The Working Group agreed that the monument would be offered space to be viewed and given a status worthy of the intentions of the commission if it was located on the central median in the area opposite the GPO,” says the report.

O’Driscoll says councillors met on O’Connell Street and were absolutely convinced that the location opposite the GPO was the best one.

But “The engineers said that the space is needed for maintenance to service the spire,” said MacDonncha. “That’s baffling.”

Said O’Driscoll: “I don’t accept that.” The council cleans the Spire once every few years, she says, and on those occasions it needs to park a truck nearby.

Rather than relocate the statue of revolutionary women, “We can close O’Connell Street if needs be,” she says.

Jackson says he really hopes to push forward with the public consultation this year and to procure a statue itself next year.

The council will bring a report to the new commemorations and naming committee on 6 March, said a council spokesperson.

“Officials are reviewing which location on O’Connell Street is most suitable for the monument,” said a council spokesperson.