The ongoing saga surrounding the erection of two statues, the Memorial to Our Blessed Lady planned for Dublin Port and Christ the King, designed for Dún Laoghaire.
Founded in the early 1950s, Our Lady's Memorial Committee is the group behind the proposal to erect a statue in honour of the Blessed Virgin at the Great South Wall, near the entrance to Dublin Port. The Memorial to Our Blessed Lady, Queen of Ireland, Heaven and the Universe is being funded by public subscription.
One guinea subscription certificates are awarded to confirm contributions made.
Workers from all over the docks area poured money into this pious project until almost £12,000 was collected.
A site for this statue has been secured and planning permission granted. When this plan fell through, an alternative site for the statue was sourced on the promenade in Clontarf. However this site was turned down on the grounds that it was not harmonious with the existing amenities in the area.
One of the trustees and treasurer of Our Lady's Memorial Committee William Nelson says while the project is losing momentum, there are two or three committee members determined to keep it going. Ideally he would like to see Dublin Corporation offer a site for the statue, preferably on the Hill of Howth.
Initially the cost for the memorial was £5,000. Year on year, the cost increases and it could be nearer to £20,000 by the time construction gets the go ahead. William Nelson is convinced this is money well spent because of the devotion Irish people have to the Blessed Virgin and,
We want this memorial as a bulwark against communism we think that Our Lady can help us, help the country in our fight against communism, atheistic communism.
Christ the King was cast in bronze by the celebrated sculptor Andrew O'Connor before World War I. The statue, considered to be O’Connor’s masterpiece, was to be erected at a site at St Michael's Wharf in Dún Laoghaire.
Instead the statue was deposited in a crate in People's Park and now, more than 15 years after it was due to be erected, it lies in the back garden of a house on Rochestown Avenue, Kill O' The Grange.
Christ the King was never erected because the ecclesiastical authorities thought that the figure of the dead Christ, one of three figures of Christ in the work, was unbecoming. Now it seems the only people interested in Christ the King are scrap metal merchants.
Sculpted by Cecil King, Our Lady, Star of the Sea, also known as Realt na Mara was erected at the end of the North Bull Wall in 1972. The final cost of the statue was £17,500.
In 1978 Christ the King finally got a site at Haigh Terrace overlooking the harbour in Dún Laoghaire. In 2014 the statue was relocated to a site in Moran Park, Dún Laoghaire.
A 'Newsbeat' report broadcast on 31 March 1966. The reporter is Cathal O'Shannon.
