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Irish Times
7 days ago
- General
- Irish Times
Flower-bed barriers to be placed around Molly Malone statue to discourage tourists from touching breasts
Dublin City Council plans to place flower beds around the plinth holding the statue of Molly Malone to prevent tourists from rubbing its bosom. The statue on Suffolk Street has suffered discolouration to its breasts due to a recently contrived 'tradition' suggesting touching them brings good luck. It is a popular place to take photographs, with members of the public climbing on to the unprotected plinth. The council had stewards in position for a week in May asking people not to interact with the sculpture. However, the stewards, while successfully in discouraging people, cannot be in place around the clock, and touching resumed as soon as they were absent. The bronze statue has lost its patina in the chest area, exposing the structure to further damage. Climbing on the plinth has also slightly dislodged the pins that hold it in place. READ MORE Council arts officer Ray Yeates said there are divided opinions about how important it is to prevent the so-called tourist tradition. 'Some people are very upset and others thinks 'what matter?'' he said. However, the damage to the statue has prompted council action. Noting the difficulty of changing visitors' behaviour, Mr Yeates said: 'We are exploring other avenues of protection for the sculpture, including installing flower beds around the base.' Over the next six weeks the site will be covered in a shroud as the statue's finish is restored and the plinth secured. Flower boxes will be put in position, making it more difficult to reach the seafood seller's chest. Overall the works are expected to cost in the region of €20,000. If this is not enough to discourage visitors from damaging the statue, 'we will try something else', Mr Yeates said.
Irish Independent
22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Flower beds to be installed around Molly Malone statue to prevent touching
The move comes after a recent trial of stewards stationed by the statue for one week in May, whose role was to discourage tourists and locals from rubbing the sculpture. According to the council, when approached by the stewards and asked not to touch Molly Malone, most people were cooperative. Tour guides also played a positive role by asking their groups to respect the statue and avoid contact. However, the council acknowledges that without stewards present, the problematic behaviour quickly returns and has become 'ingrained, apparently as part of your visit to Dublin'. This long-standing issue has made it difficult to change visitor habits, prompting the council to explore alternative protective measures such as using flower beds to create a physical barrier around the base of the statue. 'It is difficult to change this behaviour, so we are exploring other avenues of protection for the sculpture, including installing flower beds around the base,' a spokesperson for Dublin City Council said. The Molly Malone statue, which depicts the legendary fishmonger and singer immortalised in Dublin's folklore, has become a popular tourist attraction since its unveiling in 1988. Over the years, the statue's bronze surface has suffered damage caused by repeated touching and groping, especially of the statue's breasts. This practice arose as part of a misguided tradition believed by some visitors to bring good luck. A recent conservator's review found that the statue's patination – the protective coating on the bronze – has been worn and damaged by repeated touching and rubbing. The patination is damaged, and the council are currently organising its restoration to repair the sculpture and preserve it for future generations. The council's Arts Officer, Ray Yeates, previously said the treatment of the statue had caused 'disquiet and upset'. The decision to trial stewards and now install flower beds, follows a campaign led by singer-songwriter Tilly Cripwell called Leave Molly mAlone, which sought to highlight the need for greater respect and care for the statue. The campaign drew attention to how the statue has been subjected to inappropriate behaviour, urging Dubliners and visitors alike to treat the landmark with dignity. 'This is a wonderful victory for Dublin's heritage,' Ms Cripwell said. 'Molly Malone deserves to be admired and respected. I'm thrilled that Dublin City Council has taken action. 'I hope visitors will continue to appreciate her in a way that preserves her legacy and sets good social examples for future generations.' The statue originally stood on Grafton Street before being moved to Suffolk Street in 2014 during Luas construction works.
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Stewards brought in to protect 'groped' Molly Malone statue
Stewards have been stationed next to the Molly Malone statue in Dublin to discourage people from touching it. The city's council is running the pilot scheme after it received complaints about people groping the sculpture's breasts. The practice is thought to have been started by a local tour guide, and the bronze has now become discoloured from years of touching. Ray Yeates, the Arts Officer for Dublin City Council said stewards were in place to have a "conversation" with people about touching Molly Malone. "They're not guards or police, it's a gentle confrontation of the behaviour," he said. "Some people say, and they have a point to make, that it's being touched inappropriately," he told BBC News NI. While he said it was a "worldwide phenomenon that statues are touched or rubbed and it becomes a custom," some people had "made a good point where we're mimicking behaviour we don't want to see in public". "It would be illegal in public, so why would we mimic it?" However, he added that, at the same time, "some people see no harm in this whatsoever and think it's a very trivial matter for council to be involved in". "There is a question of damage because several thousand Euro of damage would be done every few months. "This is damaging the statue and it is upsetting people." Mr Yeates said other options such as moving the statue's location, raising it on a plinth or repairing it more regularly, were being considered. The sculpture has been in Dublin since 1988 in tribute to a woman who sold shellfish on the streets of the Irish capital. Over the years she's come to represent the city's working people and many believe, Molly Malone deserves more respect. BBC News NI asked people on the streets of Dublin what they think. Music activist Tilly Cripwell started the Leave Molly mAlone campaign last year. "I spent loads of hours busking beside the Molly Malone statue and got more and more annoyed at hundreds of people touching the statue's breasts for good luck," she said. "It's become what some people think is a tradition," she said. "I'm bored of seeing this kind of misogynistic behaviour normalised in culture." Tilly said she'd like to see the Molly Malone sculpture raised on a plinth, with a plaque denoting the history behind it. "These are also examples we're setting to younger generations," she said. "She needs respect so that she is awarded the honour she deserves by being such an iconic woman in Irish culture." As the stewards were on duty, she placed a sign bearing her campaign name around the neck of the Molly Malone statue while setting up for a busking slot, but it was quickly removed by a passer-by. "For years people have been coming here and what they're doing is groping Molly's breasts," said Dublin resident Clodagh Keating. "It was normalised, people thought it was okay and now we've said just because something is normal in society, doesn't mean it's right." Among the tourists who spoke to the BBC, opinions were mixed. One visitor from New Jersey told the BBC: "I can see the vulgarity of it but it's just a tradition, it's just what you do, so you do it.' Another added: "It's fine. You're not taking her clothes off, you're touching an area of her body that's beloved." Cala, from Minnesota, said: "I think it's pretty rude that it's obviously been rubbed clear in one area." Seth, also from Minnesota, said: "It's not the most respectful way to treat an historical figure." The stewards are in place at the Molly Malone statue until the end of this week only, at a cost of €350 (£298) per day, per steward. Dublin City council says raising the sculpture on a plinth could cost upwards of €100,000 (£85,000), but that it is considering several options. The Molly Malone statue was erected 37 years ago in tribute to a legendary Dublin woman who sold shellfish in the streets of the Irish capital. It is not clear if the character is based on a real or fictional person, but the figure of Molly Malone has come to represent part of Dublin's working class community. She was also the subject of a traditional folk song, which tells the story of a fishmonger's daughter who sold cockles and mussels from a wheelbarrow. According to the colourful lyrics, Molly died of a fever but then returned as a ghost, still wheeling her wheelbarrow through the city's streets. Many public artworks in Dublin are popularly referred to by rhyming nicknames, and for years the Molly Malone statue was known as "the tart with the cart". This name was in part due to suggestions that Molly Malone worked as a fishmonger by day and as a sex worker by night. The statue was first erected in Dublin's Grafton Street in 1988, created by the renowned bronze sculptor Jeanne Rynhart. It was later moved to nearby St Andrews' Street to accommodate the construction of a tram line. Molly Malone statue 'violated' by groping Dublin's Molly Malone statue to get stewards to stop 'groping'
