The ''John Boyle O'Reilly Memorial'' by Daniel Chester French is a memorial installed along

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Fenway Fenway Park is a baseball stadium located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, near Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home of the Boston Red Sox, the city's American League baseball team, and Boston Braves (baseball), since 1953, i ...

, near the intersection of Boylston Street, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

. It was created in 1896 to honor Irish-born writer and activist

John Boyle O'Reilly John Boyle O'Reilly (28 June 1844 – 10 August 1890) was an Irish poet, journalist, author and activist. As a youth in Ireland, he was a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, or Fenians, for which he was transported to Western Australi ...

not long after his death in 1890.

Description

The memorial features a bronze bust of writer and activist

and a bronze allegorical figure group depicting

Erin Erin is a Hiberno-English word for Ireland originating from the Irish word ''"Éirinn"''. "Éirinn" is the dative case of the Irish word for Ireland, "Éire", genitive "Éireann", the dative being used in prepositional phrases such as ''"go h ...

seated between her sons Patriotism and Poetry. The bust measures approximately 2 ft. 9 in. x 2 ft. 3 in. x 1 ft. 4 in., and the figure group measures approximately 6 ft. x 7 ft. x 3 ft. 6 in. The Barre granite wall is approximately 10 ft. tall and 6 ft., 6 in. wide, and the base is made of

Milford pink granite Milford pink granite, also known as Milford granite or Milford pink is a Proterozoic igneous rock located in and around the town of Milford, Massachusetts, covering an area of approximately , as mapped by the USGS. It is also sometimes referred to ...

History

John Boyle O'Reilly was a popular writer who had helped create the image of Boston as a place full of Irish people and culture and invited Irish luminaries like Oscar Wilde to the city and hosted fundraising rallies for Irish revolutionaries like

Charles Stewart Parnell Charles Stewart Parnell (27 June 1846 – 6 October 1891) was an Irish nationalist politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1875 to 1891, also acting as Leader of the Home Rule League from 1880 to 1882 and then Leader of the ...

.Quinlin, Michael. ''Irish Boston: A Lively Look at Boston's Colorful Irish Past''. Guilford, CT: Globe Pequot Press, 2013, 81. His sudden death at age 46 on August 10, 1890, shocked his admirers and friends, who soon raised $22,000 for a memorialQuinlin, Michael. ''Irish Boston: A Lively Look at Boston's Colorful Irish Past''. Guilford, CT: Globe Pequot Press, 2013, 82. after a mass meeting at

Tremont Temple The Tremont Temple on 88 Tremont Street is a Baptist church in Boston, affiliated with the American Baptist Churches, USA. The existing multi-storey, Renaissance Revival structure was designed by architect Clarence Blackall of Boston, and opene ...

. The John Boyle O'Reilly Memorial Committee selected Daniel Chester French as the sculptor without opening the commission up to competition and directed him to create "a suitable memorial to the genius and manhood of John Boyle O'Reilly.Holzer, Harold. ''Monument Man: The Life and Art of Daniel Chester French''. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2019: 164. O'Reilly invited Charles Howard Walker to collaborate on the architectural aspect of the design. Upon viewing the initial design, O'Reilly's widow "expressed great admiration and delight in the sculptor's conception", according to one report. The Committee accepted the design in September 1893, granting French final authority on any changes, and requested its completion within two years. Instead, French took closer to three years while he updated several details in the design, including adding armor to the figure of Patriotism, who was originally nude, and exchanging a harp for a lute for the figure of Poetry.Holzer, Harold. ''Monument Man: The Life and Art of Daniel Chester French''. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2019: 165. Sculptor

Lorado Taft Lorado Zadok Taft (April 29, 1860, in Elmwood, Illinois – October 30, 1936, in Chicago) was an American sculptor, writer and educator. His 1903 book, ''The History of American Sculpture,'' was the first survey of the subject and stood for deca ...

, who saw the work in progress at French's studio, said of the design, "it is magnificent" and that it was "wonderful art" that concealed more art. The memorial was cast in 1896 and unveiled on June 20 of that year. It was surveyed by the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

's "

Save Outdoor Sculpture! Save Outdoor Sculpture! (SOS!) was a community-based effort to identify, document, and conserve outdoor sculpture in the United States. The program was initiated in 1989 and ended in 1999. History Save Outdoor Sculpture! was initiated by Herit ...

" program in 1993.

References

External links

*
John Boyle O'Reilly Memorial
at Massachusetts Historical Society
John Boyle O'Reilly Statue
at

Historic New England Historic New England, previously known as the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (SPNEA), is a charitable, non-profit, historic preservation organization headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. It is focused on New England ...

{{Public art in Boston 1896 establishments in Massachusetts 1896 sculptures Allegorical sculptures in the United States Bronze sculptures in Massachusetts Busts in Massachusetts Fenway–Kenmore Granite sculptures in Massachusetts Monuments and memorials in Boston Outdoor sculptures in Boston Sculptures of men in Massachusetts Sculptures of women in Massachusetts Sculptures by Daniel Chester French

Description

History

See also

References

External links