A princess and a pirate queen may seem an unlikely pair to be honoured with sculptures on each side of a dramatic viaduct in a small town in Co Mayo.
Yet this is what happened in Newport on Thursday when the picturesque little tourism haven took its first step in becoming the Town of the Two Graces.
Newport has long associations with the late Princess Grace Kelly of Monaco, whose paternal grandfather hailed from the nearby townland of Drimurla, while 16th-century seafarer Grace O’Malley’s castle, Rockfleet, stands in a nearby bay.
Ancestral home
Poignantly, the first of the two sculptures were unveiled by Grace Kelly’s son, Prince Albert 11 of Monaco, shortly after his cavalcade had driven past the site of the onetime ancestral home en route from Knock airport on Thursday afternoon.
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Decked out in an Irish rugby scarf, Prince Albert was serenaded on his arrival by flautist Emer Mayock, fiddler Julie Langan and harpist Freda Hatton to a rousing march called Lord Mayo.
Addressing a crowd of some 300 people, Prince Albert said: “It is always with great emotion and joy that I return to Ireland, so dear to my heart, the birthplace of my mother’s family. I was very young in 1961 when my parents came to Ireland to answer an invitation by President de Valera, but I remember that my mother was deeply touched by the occasion.”
He expressed how the emotion of returning to Newport was now increased “by the great pleasure you are giving me with the unveiling of this statue, honouring Princess Grace, my beloved mother, in Newport, the ancestral hometown of the family”.
He thanked the Newport Business NBAssociation (NBA) for all its hard work and the sculptor, Mark Rode. Rode has also been commissioned to create the one of Grace O’Malley — due to be unveiled next year — which is also in bronze and will depict her on the prow of a ship.
Earlier Sharon McGovern of NBA told The Irish Times that the prince “had been involved in the development of the project from the outset, choosing the image of his mother to be used”. The sculpture depicts Princess Grace sitting on a seat facing Drimurla, while the one of Grace O’Malley will face towards Clew Bay.
Addressing the crowd, Fine Gael TD Michael Ring said “this was a special day for Newport” to celebrate the achievements of emigrants from around the world.
He added, to much applause and laughter: “Prince Albert has assured me that he will be back here in July if Mayo win the All-Ireland.”
Earlier the genesis of the project was outlined by Darragh McGee of NBA and Sabina Trench of southwest Mayo Development Company, which helped to fund it.
Ms Trench said, the sculpture was “a symbol of what has been achieved by the Irish abroad, and that connections to Ireland built across generations will always be remembered”.
On June 15th, 1961, when Princess Grace first visited the little cottage which her grandfather had left as a young boy in 1887, its roof had been newly thatched and the then owner, the Widow Mulchrone held court “in the good room” with tea you could trot an ass on and enough griddle cakes to feed an army.
Car crash
Grace returned on two other occasions in 1976 and 1979, having already purchased the old family homestead and 35 acres of land for £7,500. She died in a car crash in 1982 and various projects have been mooted over the years since but with no outcome.
The deep roots of family connections and heritage remained sacrosanct for this Hollywood star and princess.
Indeed, in the seafaring spirit of her upcoming companion on the other side of the viaduct, Grace Kelly had taken to Clew Bay during her 1961 visit and landed the first catch of the day, a four-pound dog fish, at the Westport International Fishing Festival.