Viscount FitzGibbon who fell at the "Charge of the Light Brigade" in bronze

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Where: Limerick, Ireland

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When: Unknown

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We may have visited this scene before if not this photograph. A fine glass plate from the Eason Collection of Viscount Fitzgibbon which stood opposite Shannon Rowing Club on Sarsfields Bridge over the river Shannon! I am curious to know what that stack/chimney is to the left rere of the statue?...

Though we've seen this statue before (from other angles), this vantage gives us a better view of the plaque. It reads: "To commemorate the bravery of / Viscount Fitzgibbon / 8th Royal Irish Hussars / & of his gallant companions in arms / natives of the county & city of limerick / who glouriously fell in the Crimean War". As per the various contributions, Fitzgibbon was reported 'missing presumed dead' during the Charge of the Light Brigade, seemingly inspiring Rudyard Kipling’s short story ‘The Man Who Was’. The statue was blown-up by the IRA in 1930, and a monument to the events of 1916 later placed on the plinth. The cannon are still apparently outside the Harbour Master's office...


Photographer: Unknown

Collection: Eason Photographic Collection

Date: Catalogue range c.1900-1939. Though before June 1930.

NLI Ref: EAS_2785

You can also view this image, and many thousands of others, on the NLI’s catalogue at catalogue.nli.ie

Info:

Owner: National Library of Ireland on The Commons
Source: Flickr Commons
Views: 25392
eason easonson easoncollection easonphotographiccollection glassnegative nationallibraryofireland viscountfitzgibbon statue sarsfieldsbridge limerickcity ireland shannonrowingclub limerickboatclub crimeanwar cannon balaclava fitzgibbon chargeofthelightbrigade crimea memorial monument wellesleybridge fitzgibbonstatue 20thcentury

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  • profile

    O Mac

    • 22/May/2017 07:24:32

    It's most likely a steam boat's funnel. ..or off a boiler to do with the boat club...more Crimean cannon!!....which are currently outside the Harbour Master’s office in the Docklands. i1.wp.com/limerickslife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/10...

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    Niall McAuley

    • 22/May/2017 08:32:02

    GeoHive OSI 25" link DIA reference Streetview.

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    Frank Fullard

    • 22/May/2017 08:33:30

    Peter the Packer's infamy is still remembered in the West of Ireland where in many cases, and particularly in the case of the Maamtreasna Murders his callous approach resulted in the hanging of innocent men.

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    ɹǝqɯoɔɥɔɐǝq

    • 22/May/2017 09:12:29

    This photo from slightly to the left - i0.wp.com/limerickslife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/ca... - shows the stack/chimney too. Is it fixed and part of a steam engine to power the bridge and/or locks? From this brief history of the cannon and Viscount Fitzgibbon - limerickslife.com/crimean-war/

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    Bernard Healy

    • 22/May/2017 09:26:46

    Here's a link to a newspaper report from 11th June 1930 describing the monument's destruction. www.limerickcity.ie/media/monuments%20(ftzg%20mon)%2006.pdf More links here: www.limerickcity.ie/Library/LocalStudies/LocalStudiesFile...

  • profile

    ɹǝqɯoɔɥɔɐǝq

    • 22/May/2017 09:31:52

    The inscription (see note) is easier to read on this one - catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000324406

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    ɹǝqɯoɔɥɔɐǝq

    • 22/May/2017 09:54:13

    Hmmm - there seems to be controversy over Lieutenant Viscount John Charles Henry Fitzgibbon (son of the 3rd Earl of Clare). "...There was a story that he had been captured [at Balaclava] then sent to Siberia and had eventually returned to England about 1870. Despite appeals in newspapers no-one ever came forward. ..." See - books.google.com.au/books?id=CwDdEHu2hVgC&pg=PA98&... www.thepeerage.com/p12529.htm#i125286 What's the reference to "Peter the Packer" about?

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    CASSIDY PHOTOGRAPHY

    • 22/May/2017 09:58:49

    Here is a very interesting read about Fitzgibbon . . . And, made more so that he had to convert from being a Catholic to Protestant religion to become a lawyer. No bias or prejudice in those courts, huh?!

  • profile

    ɹǝqɯoɔɥɔɐǝq

    • 22/May/2017 10:12:43

    A wonderful Victorian melodramatic tale from 1878 including a description of this statue - "A ROMANCE OF THE PEERAGE" (from the Bristol Times) - trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/233680010?searchTerm=%... Somebody tried to blow up the statue in 1873 also - trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/170299938?searchTerm=%...

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    Swordscookie

    • 22/May/2017 10:19:22

    https://www.flickr.com/photos/beachcomberaustralia The reference to Peter the Packer is erroneous! He was from Clare but his name was O'Brien and not FitzGibbon as was the subject of the monument! The FitzGibbons were "Lords Clare" and that may be where the confusion came from! Actually Peter the Packer would have been a far more colourful and interesting character to look at here!

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    ɹǝqɯoɔɥɔɐǝq

    • 22/May/2017 10:25:38

    https://www.flickr.com/photos/swordscookie Thanks! I thought I'd finally gone loopy.

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    Niall McAuley

    • 22/May/2017 10:42:11

    Peter the packer in wikipedia. He was born in 1842, so was only 13 in 1855 when this monument was erected.

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    Niall McAuley

    • 22/May/2017 10:49:21

    Here is the subject of the memorial at thepeerage, John Charles Henry FitzGibbon, Viscount FitzGibbon His dad (not Peter the Packer!), Richard Hobart FitzGibbon, 3rd Earl of Clare

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    Inverarra

    • 22/May/2017 11:34:39

    Some interesting comments. The judge at the Maamtrasna trials in 1884 was Charles Robert Barry. Judge Barry was from Limerick and was Catholic. An amusing old story about conversions was often told in the West. Seems a hungry man had decided to become a Protestant in order to get some soup. The general view was that he had a lucky escape as the night before the conversion, he died.

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    ɹǝqɯoɔɥɔɐǝq

    • 22/May/2017 22:15:35

    Here is part of that 1878 newspaper article I linked above transcribed, 'cos I think it's good -

    ...Young Viscount Fitzgibbon, who "fell" in the Light Cavalry charge - for no one denies he fell, though some people now contend he got up again, and after an absence of 20 years has reappeared to claim his own once more - was born in 1829, so at the time of the Crimean war he was about 25 years of age. He was a tall, slim and handsome, rather fair-haired man. Close to Wellesley Bridge, Limerick, and on the city side of it, is a very spirited monument of him in bronze, the work of a great German sculptor. There, amidst trophies of war, the young soldier is carved, or rather cast, sword in hand, and with his shako[*] off, so that you get a good view of his handsome aquiline features. The figure is full of fire; and yet very naturally treated, while the inscription tells in simple touching words the story of the young hussar's death, and the distress of the father who survived him and was left heirless. I know I was struck with the words upon the monument, and the echo of the bells of St. Mary's Cathedral (the "Evening Bells" of Moore's melody) floating up to me on the broad waters of the Shannon made the pathetic lament of the father, who knew that a distinguished name must die with himself the more affecting. ..."
    * - shako - a cylindrical or conical military hat with a peak and a plume or pom-pom. Full article - trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/233680010?searchTerm=%...

  • profile

    National Library of Ireland on The Commons

    • 22/May/2017 23:33:35

    Thanks all. Map/description/tags/date/etc all duly updated. FYI [https://www.flickr.com/photos/91549360@N03] - While more than plausible, when I look at the same 'stack' in the close up of the Limerick Leader article (confirming what you point-out about the cannon), it looks to be attached to the bridge structure itself. Perhaps as [https://www.flickr.com/photos/beachcomberaustralia] suggests it was a vent or otherwise something to do with the swing bridge workings....

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    O Mac

    • 23/May/2017 07:54:27

    [https://www.flickr.com/photos/nlireland] Ah! But that's not a bridge. It's a Belfast truss. It's the roof of what is marked on the OSI map as Limerick Boat Club. It probably is a steam boiler chimney. Maybe for running woodwork machinery for boat building?

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    National Library of Ireland on The Commons

    • 23/May/2017 08:41:24

    Thanks [https://www.flickr.com/photos/91549360@N03] for the article on the Belfast Truss. Very interesting :) I think we might be talking at cross-purposes though. The black pipe/chimney/stack/pole/whatever that I'm referring to is the one some distance in-front of the truss structure and building. Sticking out of the pillar on the corner. I don't think there's any chimney in the structure with that cool curved roof....

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    O Mac

    • 23/May/2017 09:04:41

    https://www.flickr.com/photos/nlireland Why would we be cross? :) We are talking about the same pipe/chimney/stack/pole. As https://www.flickr.com/photos/beachcomberaustralia mentions above there is a wee building between the shed and monument surround also with a curved roof that is probably the boiler house and the stack is coming out of that.

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    National Library of Ireland on The Commons

    • 23/May/2017 15:50:55

    https://www.flickr.com/photos/91549360@N03 Could you check your FlickrMail, young man?

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    O Mac

    • 23/May/2017 18:21:35

    https://www.flickr.com/photos/nlireland What's up?

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    Niall McAuley

    • 30/May/2019 09:46:03

    The replacement: statue_bw