Survey Data
Reg No
50100276
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Artistic, Historical, Social
Original Use
Monument
In Use As
Monument
Date
1955 - 1960
Coordinates
316107, 233229
Date Recorded
11/07/2016
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Freestanding memorial, erected c. 1956, comprising bronze statue of The Three Fates, atop stepped roughly hewn granite slab at centre of shallow round-plan fountain having rock-faced ashlar granite surround. Bronze sculpted statue of three robed and hooded female figures cast in two sections, highest figure with left hand raised and holding spool of string, middle figure standing with right hand raised, third and lowest crouching, each figure holding piece of thread. Three brass plaques fixed to top of wall around fountain, that facing east inscribed 'With gratitude for the help given to German children by the Irish people after World War II. Roman Herzog president of the Federal Republic of Germany 23.03.1997'; inscription repeated in Irish and German. Plaque to south side inscribed 'This fountain designed by the sculptor Josef Wackerle is the gift of the people of the German Federal Republic to mark their gratitude for Ireland's help after the war of 1939-45. Group portrays the legendary Three Fates spinning and measuring the thread of man's destiny'; inscription repeated in Irish on plaque to north. Facing east, located at southeast corner of Saint Stephen's Green park, at junction between tarmacadam paths, facing entrance gates.
Appraisal
A public sculpture depicting The Three Fates 'spinning and measuring the thread of man's destiny'. The bronze statue was created by German sculptor Josef Wackerle about 1956 and gifted to the Irish people by the West German people in gratitude for aid in the wake of the Second World War. The piece is one of a number of sculptures sited within St. Stephen's Green, all adding to its visual and social-historical interest.