List of public art in Dublin

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates This is a list of public art on permanent public display in Dublin, Ireland. The list applies only to works of public art accessible in a public space; it does not include artwork on display inside museums. Public art may include sculptures, statues, monuments, memorials, murals and mosaics.

Public art in Dublin is a significant feature of the cityscape. The city's statues and other monuments have a long history of controversy about their subjects and designs, and a number of formerly prominent monuments have been removed or destroyed. Some of the city's monuments have nicknames, though many are not in popular use.

North city centre

O'Connell Street

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North Quays

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City North East

This area of the city is bounded to the west by O'Connell Street, Parnell Square East, North Frederick Street, and Lower Dorset Street. To the north it is bounded by the Royal Canal, and to the south by the Liffey Quays. To the east it includes the North Wall.

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City North West

This area of the city is bounded to the east by O'Connell Street, Parnell Square East, North Frederick Street, and Lower Dorset Street. To the north and west it is bounded by the North Circular Road and to the south by the Liffey Quays.

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South city centre

Trinity College

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St. Stephen's Green

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Merrion Square Park

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Iveagh Gardens

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South Quays

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City South East

This area of the city is bounded to the west by Westmoreland Street, Trinity College, Grafton Street, St. Stephens Green West, and Harcourt Street. To the north it is bounded by the Liffey Quays, and to the south by the Grand Canal. To the east it includes Irishtown and Ringsend. Locations within this area with their own article subsections such as St. Stephen's Green are excluded.

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City South West

This area of the city is bounded to the east by Westmoreland Street, Trinity College, Grafton Street, St. Stephens Green West, and Harcourt Street. To the north it is bounded by the Liffey Quays, and to the south by the Grand Canal. To the west it is bounded by the South Circular Road.

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Northside suburbs

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Phoenix Park

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Farmleigh

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Glasnevin Cemetery

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National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin

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Southside suburbs

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University College Dublin

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North County Dublin

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Dublin airport

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South County Dublin

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Dún Laoghaire

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Past public art

Image	Title / subject	Location	Date	Artist / designer	Notes and references
File:George I Essex Bridge.jpg	Equestrian Statue of George I	Initially at Essex Bridge, later at the Mansion House	1722–1755, 1789–1922	John Nost	Initially erected on Essex Bridge (now Grattan Bridge) in 1722, and removed in 1755. It was later re-erected in the garden of the Mansion House in 1789, where it stood until 1922. In 1937, it was sold to the Barber Institute of Fine Arts in Birmingham, England, where it stands as of 2023.
File:George II Statue, Dublin.jpg	George II	St Stephen's Green	1758–1937	John van Nost the younger	Blown up on 13 May 1937, the day after the coronation of George VI.
File:Archibald Montgomerie statue, St Stephen's Green.png	Archibald Montgomerie	St Stephen's Green	1866–1958	Patrick MacDowell	Destroyed in August 1958 in an explosion by the IRA, two Gardaí and a civilian were injured in the bombing.
File:King William Statue 1.jpg	William of Orange	College Green	1701–1929	Grinling Gibbons	Damaged after explosion on anniversary of Armistice Day in 1928, and subsequently removed in 1929. Melted down in 1946.
File:Sir Philip Crampton's memorial in Dublin Wellcome L0002903.jpg	Sir Philip Crampton	College Street	1862–1959 replacing the original Viking Long Stone	John Kirk	Collapsed in 1959 and subsequently removed. Nicknames included "The Pineapple" and "The Cauliflower". It was subsequently replaced by Cliodhna Cussen's The Steine of Long Stone in 1986.
File:Griffith-Collins Cenotaph Leinster Lawn Dublin.jpg	Griffith-Collins Cenotaph	Leinster House, Kildare Street	1923–1939	George Atkinson	Structure had become dilapidated and was removed in 1939. It was replaced in 1950 by current obelisk on Leinster Lawn (see above)
	Steine of Dublin	College Street, Dublin	9th century to early 1700s	Unknown	Norse era structure to mark the domain of Viking Dublin which was removed at some stage in the early 1700s.
File:The Market Cross, Dublin.jpg	The Market Cross	The junction of High Street and Skinner's Row (now Christchurch Place) near the city tholsel	Early Medieval	Unknown	Its earliest confirmed identification is from a public punishment in 1571. The last remaining drawing of the cross is by John Simmons in 1776. It was then taken down sometime in the late 18th or early 19th century and its whereabouts are unknown.
File:Queen Victoria "visits" Library Towers (8409924813).jpg	Queen Victoria	Leinster House, Kildare Street	1904–1948	John Hughes	Removed in 1948 as part of moves by the Irish State towards declaring a Republic, put on display in Sydney, Australia in 1987. The smaller bronze statues are held in storage within the grounds of the National museum overflow facility at St Conleth's Reformatory School.
File:XXI OCTOBER MDCCCV (8636135413).jpg	Nelson's Pillar	O'Connell Street	1809–1966	Francis Johnston, William Wilkins, Thomas Kirk	Blown up in 1966 on the 50th anniversary of the 1916 Rising. The head of Nelson's statue was rescued, and is currently on display in the Dublin City Library and Archive on Pearse Street
	William Blakeney	O'Connell Street	1759–1782	John van Nost the younger	Removed sometime before 1782
File:Bowloflight.jpg	Bowl of Light	O'Connell Bridge	1953–1963		Erected to mark inauguration of An Tóstal festival. Flames of sculpture thrown into the Liffey in 1953. Remainder dismantled in 1963.
	Sir Alexander Macdonnell	Marlborough Street	1878–1958	Thomas Farrell	Originally located in front of Tyrone House within the grounds of the Department of Education. Now stored in the grounds of the National museum overflow facility at St Conleth's Reformatory School.
File:Gough Monument, Phoenix Park.jpg	Gough Monument	Phoenix Park	1878–1957	John Henry Foley	Blown up in 1957, it was later restored and re-erected in the grounds of Chillingham Castle, England, in 1990.Template:Efn
	William Shakespeare	Riversdale House, Kilmainham	1725-1969	Unknown	The house was built around 1725 in stone for Dublin lawyer John Fitzpatrick who sold it shortly after to a legal colleague Simon Bradstreet. The house had extensive formal gardens and a stone statue of Shakespeare on the front. It later became tenements in the late 19th and early 20th century. The whereabouts of the statue today are unknown. In the manner of a similar statue by Peter Scheemakers.
File:Weavers Hall (4769200816).jpg	George II	Weavers' Hall, The Coombe	1750-1937	John van Nost the younger	It was erected in a niche on the front of Weavers' Hall in the Coombe to mark the 50th anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne. It was taken down as it was feared that it may be blown up by Republicans and today the remains are held within the collections of the Dublin Civic Museum.
	Frederick the Great	Prussia Street	1760-?	Patrick Cunningham	Metal bust installed on the niche of a house on Cabragh Lane, which was then to be renamed Prussia Street in honour of Frederick the Great who was celebrating his 49th birthday. The bust was apparently executed by Patrick Cunningham a former apprentice of John van Nost the younger.
File:Carlisle Statue, Phoenix Park.jpg	George Howard	Phoenix Park	1870–1958	John Henry Foley	The statue was dislodged by a bomb 28 July 1958 and moved to Castle Howard in Yorkshire. The pedestal remains in place as a memorial.
File:Statue of George the fourth, 1835 (IA jstor-30003477) (page 1 crop).jpg	George IV	Linenhall, Dublin	1824	Thomas Kirk	In black marble with inscription - "This statue of his majesty George IV was erected by the merchants engaged in the linen trade of Ireland to commemorate his majestys gracious visit to the linen hall, on the 23rd of August 1821.
	Millennium Clock	River Liffey	March to August 1996
File:The Point Rocket.JPG	The Point Rocket	Point Theatre	2006–?
File:Climbing (6725355761).jpg	Aspiration – Liberty Scaling the Heights	Grand Canal Street	1995–2020	Rowan Gillespie	Removed in 2020
	Gateway	Marine Road, Dún Laoghaire	2002-2009	Michael Warren	Removed in 2009. Returned to the artist in 2015 in exchange for an alternative work entitled 'Angel Negro'.
File:Joe Caslin, Yes Equality (male couple), Dublin (17177199382).jpg	The Claddagh Embrace	Corner of Dame Street and South Great George's Street	10-29 April 2015 (approx.)	Joe Caslin	Installed during the night on Friday 10 April 2015 in the weeks prior to the 2015 Irish constitutional referendum on same-sex marriage on 22 May 2015. "After 19 days, the wind and the rain began to take it (the mural) down".

See also

• List of public art in Belfast
• List of public art in Cork city
• List of public art in Galway city
• List of public art in Limerick

References

Sources

External links

• Poem: Our Statues Go Unwatched, Katie Martin, The Irish Times 5 July 2020. Retrieved 6 July 2020
• Talking Statues retrieved 26 July 2021