Nelson's Pillar

Coordinates: 53°20′59″N 6°15′37″W / 53.34972°N 6.26028°W / 53.34972; -6.26028 The Nelson Pillar (also known as Nelson's Pillar or simply The Pillar) was a large granite pillar topped by a statue of Horatio Nelson in the middle of O'Connell Street (formerly Sackville Street) in Dublin. It was built in 1808–1809, and was among the first and grandest monuments erected in memory of Nelson in the then United Kingdom. It survived until March 1966, when it was destroyed by a bomb planted by Irish republicans. Today the Spire of Dublin stands on its former ground.

Description

The pillar was a Doric column that rose 121 feet (36.9 m) from the ground and was topped by a 13 feet (4.0 m) tall statue in Portland stone by Cork sculptor Thomas Kirk, RHA (1781–1845), giving it a total height of 134 feet (40.8 m) – some 35 feet (10.7 m) shorter than Nelson's Column in London. The diameter of the column was 13 feet (4.0 m) at the bottom and 10 feet (3.0 m) at the top.

All the outer and visible parts of the pillar were of granite from the quarry of Goldenhill, Manor Kilbride, County Wicklow. The interior was of black limestone. A contemporary account of the pillar described it in the following terms: