Pearse and the Pillar

Posted by Jim on December 16, 2018

By Donal Fallon (Come Here to Me)

The afterlife of the Nelson Pillar on O’Connell Street is every bit as
interesting as its lifespan, and from the late 1960s onwards various
committees and campaign groups lobbied with the aim of placing a
monument in the location where Nelson had stood. One reoccuring proposal
was to replace Nelson with a monument to Patrick Pearse. Indeed, the
idea of putting Pearse on top of the monument was even floating around
before the destruction of the Pillar, with a motion calling for Nelson
to be removed and replaced by the revolutionary leader brought before
Dublin Corporation in August 1948.

In 1979, architect Yann Goulet brought forward a controversial model for
a proposed Pearse monument to the City Council.

Higher than the GPO, and containing over #150,000 worth of bronze, the
proposal was ridiculed when brought towards the City Council, with
Councillor Frank Sherwin stating “it should be thrown in the Liffey”,
while Councillor Hanna Barlow described it as “the yoke”. The proposed
100-foot-high abstract monument did not enjoy significant support from
any quarters, but it is was just one proposed monument in honour of
Pearse for the site. An earlier proposal in the same year came from the
Pearse Commemoration Committee, who proposed a much more traditional
style monument, to be carried out by sculptor Gary Trimble. The Irish
Independent newspaper totally opposed any monument to Pearse in an
editorial which noted:

If anything is to replace the Pillar, it should be something which will
bring people together, and not something which will caused divisiveness
and bitterness, as the proposed Pearse statue is clearly destined to do.

There were wild scenes at one meeting to discuss a proposed Pearse
monument, when Lord Mayor Paddy Belton condemned the Pearse
Commemoration Committee as “a bunch of Provos”, insisting that members
of Sinn Fein were to the fore of the campaign to honour Pearse on
O’Connell Street. This was a hugely controversial remark, as the Pearse
committee had come from a very broad spectrum of Irish society,
including Gael Linn and other Irish language groups. Bord Failte also
objected to any planned memorial to Pearse, a surprise blow to the
campaign, on the grounds that “it may interfere with the view of the GPO
which is the vocal point of O’Connell Street.”

Trimble’s proposed monument was comparable in size to the monument to
Parnell, and would show Pearse reading from a book, surrounded by
children:

Various points of view on any proposed monument to Pearse were reported
in the media, ranging from over-the-top praise (“The messiah of the
nation’s revival” in the words of Frank Sherwin) to calls for a monument
that would be inclusive of the other 1916 leaders. Tomas Mac Giolla for
example noted that James Connolly should not be forgotten in any
monument at the site. The Pearse pressure group continued to campaign
for the placing of a monument to Pearse on O’Connell Street, even if the
Pillar site itself was off-limits. Councillor Pat Carroll reportedly
pondered if it would be possible “to take down one of the monuments in
O’Connell Street, such as that of John Gray, which did not seem to be
too important.” However with Gray’s leading role in establishing a clean
water supply for much of Dublin, I’d argue today he is far from
unimportant!

Today, James Connolly remains the only one of the seven signatories of
the proclamation with a statue in Dublin city centre.