Survey Data
Reg No
50130096
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Artistic, Historical
Original Use
Grave monument
In Use As
Grave monument
Date
1880 - 1935
Coordinates
314838, 236922
Date Recorded
21/06/2018
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Freestanding sculptural commemorative monument, inscribed with 1933 date of completion, comprising tiered granite base, plinth and pedestal each having moulded base and cornice; breakfront central section to plinth having installation inscription incised in stone, flanked by statues representing Patriotism and Fidelity; commemorative inscription between on marble tablet. Statue of Erin on square tapered base over main pedestal. Set in gravelled enclosure with granite kerb at corner plot in Glasnevin Cemetery.
Appraisal
A finely sculpted monument, colloquially known as the Fenian Plot, commissioned in 1883 by the Old Monuments Committee and completed in 1933 by the National Graves Association. It commemorates six members of the Young Ireland movement and Irish Republican Brotherhood, including its founder, Colonel John O'Mahony (1816-77). The monument is dominated by sculptural representations of Erin, Patriotism and Fidelity by noted Dublin sculptor Thomas Farrell, reinforcing the heroic narrative of nineteenth-century republican movements. Having left Ireland after the failed Young Irelander rebellion of 1848, O'Mahony formed the Fenian Brotherhood in the United States in 1858, which was closely aligned to the Irish Republican Brotherhood. The monument is prominently located on a corner plot at Glasnevin Cemetery and contributes to the rich architectural, artistic and historical interest of the cemetery. Glasnevin (formerly Prospect) Cemetery is Ireland's largest non-denominational cemetery, founded in 1832 following a successful campaign by Daniel O'Connell.