Survey Data
Reg No
13400402
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Artistic, Historical, Social, Technical
Original Use
Monument
In Use As
Monument
Date
1970 - 1975
Coordinates
209316, 286290
Date Recorded
26/07/2005
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Freestanding granite statue, erected 1974. Comprising of seated female figure holding an anvil and hammer in one hand and a shield and sword in the other. Mounted on granite base and enclosed within concrete wall with plaque to side and wrought-iron gates to front. Located to roadside, close to the border with County Leitrim.
Appraisal
The work of skilled craftsmen is clearly exhibited in the execution of this curious statue. Located at the top of a hill, the statue is unusually ornate for its rural location and forms a focal point within the landscape. The statue commemorates Sir George Calvert (c. 1580 – c. 1632), who was made 1st Baron Baltimore (later Lord Baltimore) of County Longford, c. 1625, for his services to the English Crown by King James. Calvert, a devoted Catholic, is alluded to by the founder of the city of Baltimore, Maryland, in the United States. This status was presented to Baltimore, Longford, by its American namesake in ‘honour of a shared heritage and a distinguished name’. The style of this statue somewhat mirrors that of the 'Statue of Liberty', perhaps representing Lord Baltimore’s intention of creating a safe haven or free colony for persecuted British and Irish Catholics in Maryland during the seventeenth century.