Sir, – Frank McNally’s Irishman’s Diary about the Fr Mathew statue on O’Connell Street (April 11th) reminds me that at school I was taught a very clever way of remembering the statues in O’Connell Street by reference to water. Nelson’s Pillar was still there at that time, and the statue of Jim Larkin had not yet been erected. This is how the mnemonic goes: Daniel O’Connell is looking into the water; William Smith O’Brien was transported across water; Sir John Gray brought water to Dublin; Horatio Nelson fought all his battles on water; Fr Mathew wants us to drink nothing but water; and Charles Stewart Parnell got into hot water. – Yours, etc,
FELIX M LARKIN,
Cabinteely,
Dublin 18.
My boyfriend’s parents are generally kind, loving people – but they keep spouting bigoted opinions
Women food producers: ‘It was difficult for women to get a loan in 1983. I had to get my husband’s signature on the application’
‘It was worth all the pain and the disruption’: Transforming a corner house in Rathmines
Ingebrigtsen: Born to Run takes us inside the broken family ties
Sir, – Frank McNally’s Irishman’s Diary gives us an account of the various pieces missing from the statuary on O’Connell Street, including Fr Mathew’s thumb, which he located in the Little Museum of Dublin.
Perhaps he would be kind enough to apply his sleuthing skills to find the blade that formerly graced the sword held by the Winged Victory of Patriotism on the O’Connell Monument. This has been missing for decades. I clearly remember it being present and correct in the 1980s. – Yours, etc,
DAVID POWER,
Lucan,
Co Dublin.