A quiet ending for star Maureen’s statue
A €60,000 bronze statue of legendary Hollywood actress Maureen O’Hara, due to be unveiled in west Cork, has been quietly discarded as it was described as ‘not a good likeness’ of the actress who returned from the US to live in beautiful Glengarriff in 2005.
Speaking diplomatically, a spokesman for Cork County Council said the authority was advised the statue ‘was not suitable for installation’.
The spokesman said in a statement: ‘The commissioned statue of Maureen O’Hara is not due to be unveiled in its current form... Glengarriff Tourist & Development Association informed Cork County Council in 2017 that they had commissioned a life-size statue, which would be modelled by a sculptor and subsequently cast in bronze by a third party.
‘The council has since been advised by the Tourist & Development Association that the statue, which was provided from this commission, was not suitable for installation.’ The Quiet Man actress’s statue was spared the ridicule of Terry Wogan’s ‘likeness’ in Limerick which garnered much criticism, as well as the notorious bust of soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo at the airport in his native Madeira and one of Kate Moss doing yoga in the British Museum.
The €58,500 statue of Limerickborn Wogan, famous for his witty commentary for the BBC at Eurovision Song Contests through the years, was ridiculed upon its unveiling in 2017.
The Wogan statue was said to resemble actor Will Ferrell, or singers Nick Cave and Glen Campbell. The statue of the broadcaster, who died five years ago at 77, was designed by Mayo artist Rory Breslin.