Reg No
22108050
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Artistic, Historical
Original Use
Monument
Date
1905 - 1910
Coordinates
188919, 135732
Date Recorded
20/06/2005
Date Updated
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Freestanding monument, erected 1907, commemorating the execution of three political activists in 1867. Relocated to this corner site in 2003. Composed of carved limestone female figure on base depicting portraits of three executed men, and pedestal with stepped plinth having dressed limestone bollards at corners. Portraits carry name in Irish of each man. Situated on stone flagged pavement behind wrought-iron railings, with information board and rubble stone planters. Painted roughcast rendered screen walls of neighbouring buildings to rear.
This memorial to the Manchester Martyrs, is a landmark piece of sculpture, now located in a prominent corner site. The choice of a female figure for such a memorial has been seen as the personification of Ireland, fused with the Virgin Mary, as Irish identity during that era was tied up with Catholicism. It is a naturalistic and evocative piece of work, made all the more striking by the life-like portraits of the executed men.