Survey Data
Reg No
50020293
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Artistic, Historical, Social
Original Use
Monument
In Use As
Monument
Date
1900 - 1910
Coordinates
316105, 234387
Date Recorded
28/02/2015
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Freestanding monument, erected 1906, moved 2012, having square-plan carved limestone pedestal on stepped granite plinth. Round-headed limestone panels between polished granite columns, carved impost course and recessed arches to each face, memorial plaques with text in English and Irish uncial script. Fountain bowl to south elevation, carved crocketed pediments to each elevation, terminating in interlaced stops having shamrocks, polished granite roundels to apices of pediments. Polished granite column with carved limestone string course having rope detail, scalloped capital, interlace frieze, pillow entablature with crown supporting celtic cross.
Appraisal
This monument was commissioned by the Mansion House Committee in 1906, designed by William Patrick O'Neill and built by Harrison & Sons, to commemorate the death of a Dublin Metropolitan Police Constable, Patrick Sheahan. The inscription reads: 'This memorial was erected in memory of Patrick Sheehan, a constable in the Dublin Metropolitan Police force who lost his life on the sixth day of May 1905 in a noble and self-sacrificing effort to rescue John Fleming who had in the discharge of his duties descended the main sewer close by this spot and was overcome by sewer gas. It was also intended to commemorate the bravery of a number of other citizens who also descended the sewer assisting in rescuing the before mentioned, thereby risking their own lives to save those of their fellow men.' The monument was sited close to the location where both men died. O’Neill was an experienced designer of church interiors and this is evident in the Gothic Revival detail of his design. This is an interesting monumental feature, providing a focal point on Burgh Quay, and adds significantly to the historic streetscape.