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Maureen O’Hara as an older woman – Warhol style.

In the middle of our little village of Glengarriff, the local government of Cork County Council created a slightly raised circular area about four years ago, a flat version of the pedestal. You could put a deck chair on it since then, or a kiosk serving beer, or at least a billboard for the restaurants to the left and right of the road. New citizen Ian Bailey (“Was it him, or wasn’t it him?”) could give his interviews there, the Comhaltas association could present small music and dance performances. But no: the space remained empty – except for two memorable days in April.

On the last Tuesday of the most recent April, a construction crew set up the life-size bronze figure of a young woman in the circle. The mysterious lady appeared to have just emerged from the water after a swim in full costume, looking somewhat shy. Two days later, men with angle cutters cut the bronze lady from her moorings and disappeared with her in a white van, while a massive shitstorm raged on social media. Now the sublime circle awaits its purpose once again.

For five years, a handful of business people in Glengarriff worked to establish a statue of Hollywood icon Maureen O’Hara (1920 – 2015) in the village. The actress, who played her big roles in the days of black and white film, lived in her adopted home of Glengarriff for ten years as a retiree from 2005. So why not bask a little in the radiant glow of this shining light? Blow-in or not, Oscar winner O’Hara was to be one of them – and incidentally increase the village’s prosperity as a tourist attraction.

27,000 Euros for a plain circular area

Statue of Maureen, by Don Cronin. Disappeared after two days.

Things went totally wrong: The first design by a local artist who was friends with O’Hara showed the resolute film beauty, as lion-like as she was red-haired, as the housewife from next door. The statue was quietly withdrawn from circulation and melted down. The second attempt suffered considerably from the beginning because of the still empty circular area: The County Council had provided 60,000 Euros for the second statue, but squandered almost half of it (27,000 Euros) for the construction of the simple circular area. This left the new artist with an unencouraging 33,000 Euros in fees for his work.

Das Maureen O’Hara-Statuen-Debakel: Wie alles begann . . . Klick

Nevertheless,  recognized talented and well known sculptor Don Cronin from West Cork agreed and created the slightly coy young woman – perhaps the image of the potential for modesty and humility inherent in O’Hara’s personality, which the Irish-American star had successfully suppressed throughout her life? It was not revealed what commission the artist had received from whom exactly, nor who was responsible for the debacle. The grandees of Cork County Council, who continue to be convinced of the quality of the statue, the people of Glengarriff who are devoted to Maureen, and the fine relatives of O’Hara, in the form of her heir-grandson Conor Beau, are stirring the murky soup.

The adventure is likely to have swallowed up 120,000 Euros, yet the circular space remains empty. The proposal to erect a bench there, plant a tree next to it and to commemorate the heroine of the canvas, who did not only have friends in Glengarriff during her lifetime, with a memorial plaque seems almost charming. For now an empty circular pedestal commemorates the celebrated film partner of John Wayne and Errol Flynn.

Meanwhile, the artist remains silent. He is recovering from the unspeakable scolding and vicious insults in social and old media. Glengarriff’s Facebook page alone drew nearly 1000 comments. With the exception of a handful of dissenters, Maureen fans and supposed celebrities from near and far unanimously mocked the lack of likeness and vigorously wedged themselves against statue and artist.

Perhaps the time of bronze statues is simply over

In times of floods of images and the ubiquitous visual presence of celebrities, in times when every smartphone owner turn into an opinion broadcaster without having to openly show his or her face, in these times it has become difficult for artists to create a consensual image of a human being for public space.

Whether it’s Christiano Ronaldo in Madeira, Lady Di in London or Kurt Cobain in Aberdeen, USA: most statue projects have recently failed miserably due to public response. Perhaps bronze statues no longer fit into our multimedia age of virtual parallel worlds. Possibly it is no longer enough if only the doves express their agreement with spotty statements. Perhaps the time for hero worshipping is over? It may also be that one has to imagine a future Maureen in Glengarriff as a three-dimensional hologram of light. This would fit to the light figure, and possibly to the time as well.

The not always unanimous people of Glengarriff would have a good reason to discuss: Why actually did some of them want to adorn themselves with Maureen O’Hara? What, in fact, did the silent others want? Isn’t there perhaps someone in their own ancestral ranks of whom even everyone could be a little proud, if they put him or her on the pedestal?

Questions over questions . . .

Maureen O’Hara, as a younger woman.

Photos: Maureen O’Hara private; Markus Bäuchle; private

This story / page is available in: German