Come Here To Me!

The statues and monuments of Dublin are a frequent feature here on the site. Many are familiar to Dubliners and still with us today, but some are no longer with us and were the subject of considerable controversy in their day. An example of a public ornament no longer with us is ‘The Bowl Of Light’, placed on O’Connell Bridge in 1953.

The Bowl Of Light, minus its flames.

The Bowl was the centrepiece of the An Tóstal scheme of decorations on the O’Connell Bridge in 1953. The An Tóstal event was an annual festival which ran 1953 to 1958, aimed at promoting Ireland as a tourist destination, and also luring Irish exiles home to reengage with the country. It was, quite simply, to be a celebration of Irish culture and traditions at home. In April 1952 a report in The Irish Times gave some idea of the ambition of the project, noting that:

The Board stressed that while An Tóstal whill be based in Dublin, it will be of national interest. “It will be intended that the whole country will, for the period of three weeks, be at home to Irish exiles and friends from everywhere.”

Major-Gen Hugo MacNeill was appointed organiser of An Tóstal. On the eve of the event, he wrote that:

In a few days the flag of An Tóstal will be hoisted ceremoniously all over Ireland, and the Easter fires blazing on the hills of Ireland will illuminate the skies with the message of IRELAND AT HOME!

The event would see the erection of ornaments and public art throughout the capital, but no piece captured the attention of the public quite like ‘The Bowl Of Light’, owing primarily to the fact it was to be a permanent feature.

The Bowl was described in The Irish Times, who noted that:

The copper bowl, with a diameter of about 4 feet, is fitted to a semi-circular bridge of tubular girders which spans an octagonal basin, measuring about 15 ft. by 18 ft. and containing about a foot depth of water. The many coloured plastic “flames”, which could revolve, were set in the bowl, and at night were illuminated from the inside.

The Bowl had been erected behind hoardings, meaning that the public were unable to see what it was that was to be placed on the bridge. In the region of 3,000 people gathered on Saturday April 3rd 1953 to see the unveiling of ‘The Bowl Of Light’, around which there was great curiosity among the public.

The Irish Independent reported that things turned ugly on the Saturday night, as Gardaí struggled to free traffic lanes and found themselves having to draw their batons against the large crowd. The paper noted that: ‘In scenes which followed floral decorations were thrown at Gardaí and windows were broken in a number of shops in O’Connell Street, including Clery’s. About 12 arrests were made.’

It was reported by the Sunday Independent that “at no time did the force of Gardaí on duty appear adequate to deal with the disturbance.”

The Sunday Independent reports.

While there was widespread bemusement at ‘The Bowl Of Light’, it would become one of Dublin’s most short lived public ornaments. On April 19th, only weeks after its unveiling, the ‘flames’ from the Bowl were chucked into the River Liffey, the actions of Anthony Wilson, a young student of Trinity College Dublin.

Wilson had been at a party, which was described in the courts of law as “a particularly good party.” Following it, he and friends went around the city enjoying themselves, and were spotted standing on the O’Connell Bridge complete with umbrellas, despite it being a fine day. The students made speeches there to the public, and it was evidently clear to those who heard them that a fair amount of alcohol had been consumed. “Wilson could not explain how he came to take the light and throw it into the river.”

Witnesses described witnessing a young man climb upon the parapet of the basin,pull the flames from the bowl and make his way towards the parapet of the bridge, hurling the plastic flames into the river. The young man made a run for it, but was caught on Aston’s Quay. Newspaper reports noted that some members of the crowd had shouted “Throw him in the river!” at Gardaí following his arrest. The student was ordered to pay £48 7/6 to cover the damages.

The ‘Bowl’ attracted its fair share of detractors in the letters pages of the national newspapers. However none were as loud in their criticisms as Myles na gCopaleen, who lambasted the Bowl and the Tóstal event itself. On April 9th 1953, Myles wrote tongue-in-cheek of those who had been responsible for the scenes at O’Connell Bridge on the Saturday prior.

Myles na gCopaleen, who attached The Bowl Of Light in his Cruiskeen Lawn column.

I did not have the pleasure to be in Dublin last Saturday night but absence did not deny me a glow of pride when I learnt what the citizens did when the pubs closed at ten. They decided to give the odd gawking visitor a real Irish welcome…..Here we had Cathleen Ni Hooligan in person.

He went on to attack the Bowl, writing that it was:

….an appalling piece of iron work bearing a basin out of which emerges a ‘plastic flame’. This metal thing has a spout on it, and the original intention was to have a “fountain” on the bridge. Nothing will ever in our time come out of that spout, but how much of the rate-payers cash has gone up it for this change of ‘plan’?

No need to guess. The figure is £1,768

With the flames long in the river, the Bowl continued to cause controversy through 1953 and into 1954. In November of 1953 Colm Gallagher T.D voiced his opinion, as the Sunday Independent reported, that:

O’Connell Bridge has been spoiled by the ‘slab of concrete’ and it was a disgrace to the city to see workmen using shovels during recent weeks to remove the water from the various openings.

While the Bowl itself was to be removed, the rest of the structure on O’Connell Bridge would remain until a decade on, in 1963. It is perhaps most commonly remembered among Dubliners today as ‘The Tomb Of The Unknown Gurrier’. The late Basil Payne would pen an excellent epitaph for the ‘Tomb Of The Unknown Gurrier, writing that:

The City Fathers’ grim myopia
confines me to this non-U-topia;
to reinforce their sentiment
They buried me in thick cement.

Today of course the traffic island between both sides of the O’Connell Bridge is popular with pedestrian traffic. Still, giving the state of the nation, perhaps a Begging Bowl Of Light wouldn’t go amiss!