An Cosantóir July/August 2017 www.dfmagazine.ie
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by SGT MAL MURRAy RETD
An Cosantóir July/August 2017 www.dfmagazine.ie
8 |
R
etired Sgt Mal Murray, formally
of 2 Cav Sqn recently posted
some research on a british Mili-
tary History forum with regards to the
boer War Memorial (Fusiliers' Arch) in
St. Stephens Green, Dublin. Now he
briefly explains further research that
led him to discover a smaller forgot-
ten memorial to the Royal Dublin
Fusiliers and the boer War.
In a small garden inside the walls of
Dublin Castle stands a bronze statue
which depicts a dying Royal Dublin
Fusilier being comforted by 'Erin'. Her
left arm supports and cradles the sol-
dier while in her right hand she holds
a laurel wreath as she looks mourn-
fully down on her dying son.
The statue was originally part of
a larger sculptural group and was
unveiled in February 1908, just seven
months after the Fusiliers' Arch. Irish
sculptor John Hughes (1865-1941) who
undertook the statues had agreed to
complete it in five years.
The statue stood at the base of a
plinth upon which there was a statue
of Queen Victoria. The statues were
originally located in the car park at
the front of Leinster House, which is
now Dáil Éireann (Irish Parliament).
The whole monument, Queen, sol-
diers and cherubim, was dismantled
in 1947 and put in 'cold storage' in the
then abandoned Royal Military Hospi-
tal at Kilmainham, on the outskirts of
the city centre.
In 1986 the statue of Queen Victoria
was presented as a gift to the citizens of
New South Wales, where it now stands
in front of the Queen Victoria Building in
Sydney. The monument's other bronze
figures remained in storage.
Then some time in the 1990s the
dying fusilier was taken out of storage
and relocated to the grounds of Dublin
Castle, where it now stands in a se-
cluded garden with no plaque to explain
its heritage or original purpose.
Mal is available to conduct ge-
nealogical research into soldiers who
served during the Great War. If you
are interested inquiries may be made
to milmor_1@yahoo.co.uk.
The removal of the Queen Victoria
statue from Leinster House.
Royal Dublin Fusiliers in action on the
Armoured Train at Chievely on November 1899
during the Boer War.
Irish Soldier in Dublin Castle: The bronze statue
of Victory (tending the dying soldier), sculpted
by John Hughes RHA (1865-1941).
