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''Two Working Men'' ( ga, Beirt Fhear Oibre) are a pair of
''Two Working Men'' became Kelly's second statue on public display, after his acclaimed ''
statue
A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to life-size; a sculpture t ...
s made by the Irish sculptor Oisín Kelly
Oisín Kelly (17 May 1915 – 12 October 1981) was an Irish sculptor.
Life and career
Oisín Kelly was born as Austin Kelly in Dublin, the son of William Kelly, principal of the James Street National School, and his wife, Elizabeth (née McL ...
. The piece took Kelly three years to create and was unveiled in front of the County Hall in Cork
Cork or CORK may refer to:
Materials
* Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product
** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container
***Wine cork
Places Ireland
* Cork (city)
** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...
in 1969. As with other works of public art in the region, the statues took on a local colloquial name, and are still commonly known as "''Cha and Miah''".
History
''Two Working Men'' became Kelly's second statue on public display, after his acclaimed ''Children of Lir
The ''Children of Lir'' ( ga, Oidheadh chloinne Lir) is a legend from Irish mythology. It is a tale from the post-Christianisation period that mixes magical elements such as druidic wands and spells with a Christian message of Christian faith ...
'' was unveiled at Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
's Garden of Remembrance in 1966. That year, Kelly received a commission for a new statue, to be erected outside Liberty Hall
Liberty Hall ( ga, Halla na Saoirse), in Dublin, Ireland, is the headquarters of the Services, Industrial, Professional, and Technical Union (SIPTU). Designed by Desmond Rea O'Kelly, it was completed in 1965. It was for a time the tallest b ...
in Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
, which at the time was Ireland's tallest building and the headquarters of the SIPTU
SIPTU (; ''Services, Industrial, Professional and Technical Union''; ga, An Ceardchumann Seirbhísí, Tionsclaíoch, Gairmiúil agus Teicniúil) is Ireland's largest trade union, with around 200,000 members. Most of these members are in the Rep ...
trade union.
Before the statues were to be moved outside Liberty Hall however, SIPTU deemed that they would pose a traffic hazard. In 2007 Desmond Rea O'Kelly, architect of Liberty Hall, reflected on this lost opportunity:
The work was instead unveiled in front of Cork's new county hall building in 1969, which during the time the statues were being made had unseated Liberty Hall as the tallest building in Ireland. (It would remain the tallest building in Ireland until 2008.)
The statues were removed for a period during the redevelopment of the County Hall, but were replaced in 2006.
Appearance and legacy
The statues consist of two men, one tall and thin and the other shorter and stout. The shorter man is shown wearing a cap and clasping his hands behind his back while the taller man's hands are placed on his hips. Both men are gazing skyward, ostensibly at the top of the building. The statue's key message is to profile the common "everyday Irish person" admiring the finished product of work in a modern Ireland. In the years after their unveiling, the statues became known locally as "Cha and Miah". The label derives from the names of two "everyman
The everyman is a stock character of fiction. An ordinary and humble character, the everyman is generally a protagonist whose benign conduct fosters the audience's identification with them.
Origin
The term ''everyman'' was used as early as ...
" Cork characters on the ''Hall's Pictorial Weekly
''Hall's Pictorial Weekly'' was an Irish satirical television series broadcast on Raidió Teilifís Éireann from 1971 to 1980. Regarded as RTÉ's flagship comedy show, it featured satirical sketches on current news stories, politics and pop ...
'' television show which became popular in the early 1970s.
References
{{Cork City Monuments and memorials in the Republic of Ireland Buildings and structures in Cork (city) 1969 sculptures Outdoor sculptures in Ireland Irish sculpture Bronze sculptures