Statues in Kilkenny

foxcoverteddy

The one thing the city lacks is statues or monument, lets put it this way who has done more for Kilkenny in the last fifty years, who would we like to see a statue of, say on the mayors walk.
We have a head of St Canice, and we want not anymore religous figures, there must be one person who has been special to the city.
The new bridge is going to need a name, we can hardly call it the Tesco bridge, poor Road-High would hate me for ever, I wanted to put Hogan's Way, sounds good though, seriously there must be one outstanding person.
I am sorry i will have to remain anonymous just in case.
Foxy

ft9

A statue of Henry Shefflin, and Cody's Bridge.

ayatollah

nobody crosses brian cody!?!!?

foxcoverteddy

Topical, what about Mr Smethwick, I would drink to that.

catbear

George Berkeley and Jonathan Swift.

Sky King

Both worthy, however we owe Lady Desart first dibs on a statue methinks, given her input into the city.

http://www.kilkennypeople.ie/news/local/the-countess-who-left-such-a-legacy-in-kilkenny-including-our-100-year-old-library-1-2175585

When Lady Desart's father, banker Henry Bischoffsheim, died in 1908 and she inherited over 15 million pounds Sterling, she invested the money in various projects in the city and abroad. Kilkenny Library was one of these projects. The others were the original Aut Even Hospital, the Woolen Mills, Kilkenny Woodworkers, Kilkenny Theatre, the Tobacco Growers Association, Desart Hall, Talbot's Inch and the Suspension Bridge.

Lady Desart's maternal grandfather was Lazar Biedermann, who had humble origins in Bratislava, Slovakia. He became court jeweller to the emperor of Austria. Later in his career, he became a wool merchant and made a vast fortune. Biedermann became a banker for the Emperor and lent millions of his own money to the royal family. He also funded the building of the first Jewish Synagogue in Vienna.

Her father, Henry Bischoffsheim, was from Maience in Germany and also became a banker along with his brother Jonathan and founded the Belgium National Bank. Her uncle Louis Bischoffsheim founded the Societe Generale bank, today the third largest bank in Europe.

This family fortune that eventually filtered its way down into Lady Desart's bank accounts, and thus to the people of Kilkenny. She came here in 1881 after her marriage to William Cuffe, the 4th Earl of Desart in Cuffesgrange. William was a prolific writer who wrote 13 novels. Her sister Amelia married the Knight of Kerry and lived, part of the year, on Valentia Island.

The Irish Government awarded Lady Desart a Seanad seat in 1923 for her great works. She inherited the responsibility for many charities in England and Ireland from her father. Her last great charitable act was the rescue of 20,000 Jewish children in 1933. She funded the transports of the children by train and boat from Berlin to Tel Aviv, as the Nazi noose tightened in Germany. Her uncle Baron De Hirsch also donated millions of pounds to Jewish charities. On De Hirsch's death, Lady Desart managed some of his charities for homeless Jewish women in London and New York.

Today her buildings are still in use, and thousands of lives have been saved because of her philanthropic donations. A quiet, unassuming woman, she was certainly Ireland's Oscar Schindler.

In Vienna today, Lady Desart's grandfather's synagogue is the only one that survived the Nazi occupation.

Fragments of Lady Desart and her extraordinary life are scattered through libraries across Europe. This information has been compiled by Mr Murray along with his own research for publication. Maynooth University's St Kieran's College degree programme has also had a number of graduates who have researched various aspect's of Lady Desart's life and work. Caroline Irwin, a recent graduate, has written a thesis 'The History of Kilkenny Woodworkers' while Mary Stafford's thesis is 'Lady Desart and the Gaelic League'. Other research on Lady Desart includes former town clerk Peter Farrelly's book 600 Years of Kilkenny Theatre and Nicola Bowe's articles on Talbots Inch Craft Village.

Kilkenny can be proud of this extraordinary woman who gave so much to the city in a time of great need and also to her international charities in London, New York and Berlin. She was much loved when she resided here. Many of the more elderly people remember her and her good name. Her door and her cheque book were always open. Indeed, there were many other payments made to desperate families in need that go unrecorded.

foxcoverteddy

Well Sky King I reckon you have made a very good case for the lady, I think Kilkenny would be proud of such a statue, I doubt if anyhone comes near to what she achievedc for our city and humanity in general.
My other half says she also built houses for the estate workers and provided education for the children.
What a great shame the main house was burnt down during the troubles.
I do not think we need look elseware do we, unless someone can find a person who did more.
Well done and thank you Foxy

KK4SAM

If we got back what we had we would be fine.



Too reinstate the foot bridge would be a nice tribute to Lady Dysart.




Or maybe reassemble the bits and pieces of Nelson's Pillar we have

catbear

KK4SAM wrote: »

If we got back what we had we would be fine.

Hey Sydney, give us back our Queen Victoria Statue!

foxcoverteddy

no catbear, what did Victoria do for kilkenny? Not much eh, not like our Lady Desert, what she achieved must be celebrated, yes put the bridge back but lets have a statue to the lady.
With a bit of luck perhaps her ancesters might cough up the money, so how do we go about getting the council to begin?

Captain Havoc

I think catbear was having a bath. I don't believe lady Desart had any children, so finding descendants might prove difficult.

Sky King

What about the Statutes of Kilkenny?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statutes_of_Kilkenny