[The following passage comes from an article in the September 1878 issue of the The Graphic. — George P. Landow]
The Palladium of the Irish people, the “Place de la Concorde” of Dublin, now possesses not a single blade of grass to remind one of its old existence as a green. The adornment which is conferred upon it by the near presence of the Irish Parliament House and the College is in these days rendered still more attractive by a number of graceful statues. When the biography comes to be written the fame of the Praxiteles of modern times will be traced in the two famous places of the world where his most numerous achievements in statuary are concentrated, namely, the Maidan of Calcutta and College Green.
Burke and Goldsmith look down the grand avenue of Dame Street from the College, and facing them, in the centre of the Green, stands Grattan. A few yards further on in the direction of the Castle is the much-abused equestrian figure of King William, of “glorious, pious, and immortal” memory. This statue, erected to commemorate the Battle of the Boyne, has often been a source of contention between the Orange and Catholic parties, and on several occasions since its elevation in 1701 has been the object of contemptuous attack. On one occasion an attempt was made to file off the King's head, and on another a painter was employed to cover the horse with tar and whitewash the King, on which occasion, when his work was finished, the painter fastened his bucket to the head of the horse, producing a most grotesque effect when the citizens woke up next morning. In 1836 His Majesty was blown by gunpowder clean off his horse, and, the statue being of lead, much difficulty was experienced in soldering him together again. Happily of late years all manifestations either of undue adulation or disrespect have been abandoned, and recently some elegant lamps have been placed round the statue, and the monument picked out with black and gold, which embellishments render it a really picturesque object. [174]
Bibliography
“Dublin Illustrated.” The Graphic (17 August 1878): 169-81. Internet Archive online version of a copy in the University of Illinois Library. Web. 14 August 2018.
Last modified 14 August 2018