Survey Data
Reg No
50100265
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Artistic, Historical, Technical
Original Use
Statue
In Use As
Statue
Date
1965 - 1970
Coordinates
316207, 233407
Date Recorded
07/06/2016
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Freestanding commemorative sculpture, erected 1966, depicting Theobald Wolfe Tone, comprising 3 metre-high statue of lost-wax bronze casting on rectangular platform of eight roughly hewn granite slabs; backdrop comprising curved line of roughly hewn granite monoliths. Platform inscribed 'Wolfe Tone 1763 1798'. Bronze plaque on platform to north elevation with lettering 'Theobald Wolfe Tone 1763-1798 by Edward Delaney R.H.A. Unveiled by President de Valera in 1967'. Located at northeast corner of Saint Stephen's Green, facing outwards onto open paved plaza bordered by roadways. Famine Memorial companion piece to southwest, behind granite backdrop.
Appraisal
The Wolfe Tone Memorial at the northwest corner of St. Stephen's Green was crafted by the noted Irish sculptor Edward Delaney and architect Noel Keating. An exemplar of the lost-wax method of bronze casting, the awkward and slightly cumbersome stance of Tone's figure evokes the lack of resolution in Irish nationalist history with the failure of the United Irishman Rebellion of 1798, of which Tone was leader. The close proximity and shared backdrop by Keating creates a successful dialogue between the two memorials. Commemorating a man widely regarded as the father of Irish republicanism, the sculpture also marks an important watershed in national history and is therefore an important part of the group of important monuments in St. Stephen's Green and which has become a draw for commemorative sculpture. Delaney was one of the leading figures in Irish sculpture in the second half of the twentieth century and is best known for his later works that exemplify modern expressionism, of which the Wolfe Tone Memorial is one such example.