List of public art in Cork city
This is a list of public art on permanent public display in Cork city, Ireland. The list applies only to works of public art accessible in a public space; it does not include artwork on display inside museums. Public art may include sculptures, statues, monuments, memorials, murals and mosaics.
Public art in city centre
| Image | Title / subject | Location and coordinates |
Date | Artist / designer | Type | Designation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
More images |
Father Theobald Mathew | St Patrick's Street | 1864 | John Henry Foley | "The Statue"[1] | ||
More images |
The Echo boy | St Patrick's Street | 1991 | Barry Moloney | [2] | ||
| Examiner Office | St. Patrick's Street | 2009 | Eithne Ring & Liam Lavery | ||||
More images |
National Monument | Grand Parade, Cork | 1906 | D. J. Coakley | [3] | ||
More images |
Berwick Fountain | Grand Parade, Cork | 1860 | Sir John Benson | [4] | ||
| Michael Collins | Grand Parade | 2023 | Kevin Holland | [5] | |||
| Scenius 1 | Peace Park, Grand Parade | 2024 | Tommy Lysaght (with Cork Simon Community and Headway Ireland) | [6] | |||
| 'Lest We Forget' War Memorial | South Mall, Cork | 1925 | [7] | ||||
| Michael Collins | Imperial Hotel, South Mall, Cork | 2023 | |||||
| City | South Mall, Cork | 1985 | Patrick O'Sullivan | [8] | |||
| Cork City Battalion Irish Volunteers Memorial | South Mall, Cork | 2016 | Mick Wilkins | [9][10] | |||
| Denny Lane plaque | South Mall, Cork | Denny Lane (1818 - 1895) was the author of the poem "Carrigdhoun" | |||||
| Fountain, English Market | English Market | 1800s | W. R. Harris (firm) | [11] | |||
| The Onion Seller | Bishop Lucey Park | 1985 | Séamus Murphy | [12] Presented by Sunbeam Wolsey PLC | |||
| Swan Fountain | Bishop Lucey Park | 1985 | John Behan | [13] | |||
More images |
The Onion Seller | The Coal Quay (Corn Market Street) |
1995 | Séamus Murphy | [14] Presented by Ray Doherty (Franchisee McDonald's) | ||
| Rory Gallagher | Rory Gallagher Place (formerly St. Paul's Square) |
1997 | Geraldine Creedon | [15] | |||
| George Boole Plaque | Bachelors Quay |
|
Southside
This is defined as the area of the city south of the south channel of the River Lee, and inside the South Ring Road (N40).
| Image | Title / subject | Location and coordinates |
Date | Artist / designer | Type | Designation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cork 800 Memorial | Cork City Hall | 1985 | |||||
| Tomás Mac Curtain | Cork City Hall | ||||||
| Terence MacSwiney | Cork City Hall | ||||||
More images |
Two Working Men | Cork County Hall | 1969 | Oisín Kelly | "Cha and Miah" | ||
| Christ the King | Turners Cross | 1931 | John Storrs | [16] | |||
| McCarthy Monument | Blackrock Road | 1870 | William Atkins | [17] | |||
| Resurrection Angel | Saint Fin Barre's Cathedral | 1879 | William Burges | "The Goldy Angel" | |||
| Doorway Saint Fin Barre's Cathedral | Saint Fin Barre's Cathedral | ||||||
| "Saurian" | Lee Fields | 1985 | Jim Buckley | This red dragon-like sculpture, which is 15 feet tall and 30 feet long, is one of several works completed as part of the Cork 800 Sculpture Symposium.[18]
|
Northside
This is defined as the area of the city north of the north channel of the River Lee.
| Image | Title / subject | Location and coordinates |
Date | Artist / designer | Type | Designation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salmon Weathervane | Church of St Anne, Shandon | ||||||
| William Delany (bishop) | Cathedral of St Mary and St Anne | [19] | |||||
| Lost Industries | Leitrim Street, Blackpool | Denis O'Connor | |||||
More images |
Delaney Brothers monument | Dublin Hill | 1940 - 1950 | [20] | |||
| Thomas Kent | Cork Kent railway station | James MacCarthy | |||||
| Saint George | Penrose House, Penrose Quay | 1832 | Unknown | Penrose House was the location of the St. George Steam Packet Company. | |||
| Callaghan's Gate | Lower Glanmire Road | Entrance gateway to Lotabeg House [21] | |||||
| Ship at Sail | Tivoli Dual Carriageway | 1996 | Kevin Holland | [22]
|
Fitzgerald's Park
| Image | Title / subject | Location and coordinates |
Date | Artist / designer | Type | Designation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Collins | Fitzgerald's Park | Séamus Murphy | [23] | ||||
| Tom Barry | Fitzgerald's Park | Séamus Murphy | [24] | ||||
| Éamon De Valera | Fitzgerald's Park | Séamus Murphy | |||||
| General Daniel Florence O'Leary | Fitzgerald's Park | 2010 | |||||
| Adam and Eve | Fitzgerald's Park | Edward Delaney | [25] | ||||
| Apple Woman | Fitzgerald's Park | 1968 | Marshall Hutson | [26] | |||
| Dreamline | Fitzgerald's Park | 1932 | Séamus Murphy | Sculpture has been restored and brought inside Cork Public Museum to protect it from the elements [27] | |||
| Boy with Boat | Fitzgerald's Park | Joseph Higgins | [28] | ||||
| Reflection | Fitzgerald's Park | James Horan | [29] | ||||
| Girl Dancer | Fitzgerald's Park | Oisín Kelly | [30] | ||||
| Girl with Seashells | Fitzgerald's Park | ||||||
More images |
Father Mathew Memorial Fountain | Fitzgerald's Park | |||||
| Abstract Sculpture | Fitzgerald's Park | 1974 | Sergio Cuevas | ||||
| Cois na Laoi | Fitzgerald's Park | 1994 | Betty Gold | ||||
| Titanic Memorial | Fitzgerald's Park | 2012 | Erected by the Cork Titanic Society
|
University College Cork
| Image | Title / subject | Location and coordinates |
Date | Artist / designer | Type | Designation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Growth Dome | University College Cork | Eilis O'Connell | |||||
| Fantailed on the Falls | University College Cork | 1995 | Conor Fallon | ||||
| Female Nude | University College Cork | ||||||
| Horse's Head | University College Cork | 1986 | Michael Quane | ||||
| Figure Talking to a Quadruped | University College Cork | 1995 | Michael Quane | [31] | |||
More images |
George Boole | University College Cork | 2016 | Paul Ferriter | [32] | ||
| Republican Prisoners Memorial | University College Cork | Located on the wall of the old Cork County Gaol, which has been incorporated into the perimeter wall of UCC. | |||||
| IRA Memorial | University College Cork | 1948 | Memorial to 13 IRA prisoners executed in 1920 and 1921 during the War of Independence. | ||||
| Saint Finbar | University College Cork | 1915 | John Sisk & Sons | Statue of Saint Finbar in the tympanum of the Honan Chapel. [33]
|
Past public art
| Image | Title / subject | Location and coordinates |
Date | Artist / designer | Type | Designation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| George II | Grand Parade, Cork | 1762-1862 | John Nost | Damaged in 1862 and subsequently removed. Nicknames were "George-a-horseback", "The Yellow Horse"[34] | |||
| Boy and girl | Green Coat Hospital School | 1716 | Now in St Anne's Church, Shandon. "Bob and Joan"[35] | ||||
| Dunscombe Testimonial Fountain | Shandon Street | [36]
|
See also
- List of public art in Belfast
- List of public art in Dublin
- List of public art in Galway city
- List of public art in Limerick
References
- ^ "Fr Mathew Statue". Cork Past and Present. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
- ^ "The Echo Boy". 22 September 2013. Archived from the original on 22 October 2015. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
- ^ "National Monument". Cork Past and Present. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
- ^ "Berwick Fountain". Cork Past and Present. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
- ^ "New statue of Michael Collins unveiled in Cork City". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 2 January 2026.
- ^ "Artistic Collaboration unveiled in Cork's peace Park". Echo Live. Retrieved 2 January 2026.
- ^ "Cork's Civic Monuments - First World War Memorial, South Mall". Cork City Council. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
- ^ "Patrick O'Sullivan - Former Member | Aosdana". Archived from the original on 14 May 2018. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
- ^ admin (6 October 2016). "South Mall, Cork | Wilkins Art". Wilkinsart.ie. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
- ^ "Official Unveiling of Monument remembering Members of the Cork City Battalion Irish Volunteers – TheCork.ie (News)". Thecork.ie. 21 June 2016. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
- ^ "courtesy of Blue Dolphin B&B, Cork - English Market, Cork City". www.bluedolphin.ie. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
- ^ René & Peter van der Krogt. "153: The Onion Seller". vanderkrogt.net. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
- ^ "Cork - Corcaigh - Swan Fountain". vanderkrogt.net. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
- ^ René & Peter van der Krogt. "149: The Onion Seller". vanderkrogt.net. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
- ^ "Rory Gallagher Landmarks - Cork Rory Gallagher Airport". rorygallagherairport.com. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
- ^ "History - Church Of Christ The King". turnerscross.com. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
- ^ "Golden City Additional Images: Buildings of Ireland: National Inventory of Architectural Heritage". www.buildingsofireland.ie. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
- ^ "History Trail, Lee Fields". corkheritage.ie. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
- ^ https://victorianweb.org/sculpture/lawlor/1.html
- ^ https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/20859001/delaney-brothers-monument-dublin-hill-upper-ballincolly-cork-county-cork
- ^ Des O’Sullivan (21 May 2016). "Lotabeg House open viewing will be a Cork crowd-puller". Irishexaminer.com. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
- ^ "Public Art Directory". Cork County Council. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
- ^ "Sculpture of Michael Collins by Seamus Murphy RHA - courtesy of Blue Dolphin House B&B Accommodation Cork Ireland". www.bluedolphin.ie. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
- ^ "Sculpture in Cork "General Tom Barry" by Seamus Murphy RHA - courtesy of Blue Dolphin House Accommodation Cork Ireland". www.bluedolphin.ie. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
- ^ "Sculpture in Cork "Adam & Eve" by Edward Delaney - courtesy of Blue Dolphin House Accommodation Cork Ireland -". www.bluedolphin.ie. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
- ^ "Apple Woman". Buildings of Ireland. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
- ^ "Seamus Murphy's 'Dreamline' sculpture is lovingly restored". Echo live.ie. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
- ^ "Sculpture in Cork "Boy with Boat" by Joseph Higgins (1886—1926) - courtesy of Blue Dolphin House Accommodation Cork Ireland -". www.bluedolphin.ie. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
- ^ "Sculpture in Cork "Reflection" by James Horan - courtesy of Blue Dolphin House Accommodation Cork Ireland -". www.bluedolphin.ie. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
- ^ "Sculpture in Cork "Girl Dancer" by Oisin Kelly RHA - courtesy of Blue Dolphin House Accommodation Cork Ireland -". www.bluedolphin.ie. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
- ^ "Everyday heroes". Retrieved 14 March 2018.
- ^ Rhodes, Dusty (20 November 2015). "Boole Statue Unveiled, Immediately Vandalised". UCCExpress. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
- ^ https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/20866150/honan-chapel-donovan-road-gillabbey-cork-cork
- ^ "Yellow Equestrian Statue". Cork Past and Present. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
- ^ "Bob and Joan statues". Cork Past and Present. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
- ^ "Dunscombe Fountain". Cork Past and Present. Retrieved 24 September 2017.