An Cosantóir

July / August 2017

An Cosantóir the official magazine of the Irish Defence Forces and Reserve Defence Forces.

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An Cosantóir July/August 2017 www.dfmagazine.ie 8 | 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).

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