1966 – Thomas Davis Memorial, College Green, Dublin

The memorial is the work of sculptor Edward Delaney with further design by Frank du Berry of the OPW. The bronze sculpture stands facing his former university on a granite pedestal accompanied by an adjoining fountain with four trumpet-blowing heralds representing the four provinces of Ireland. Six granite tablets depict a famine scene and scenes from the poetry of Thomas Davis.

Dedicated to the journalist, poet and politician who had a huge influence on the generation who achieved Irish Independence in the 20th century. The use of a modernised Celtic script, reading ‘Tomás Dáibis 1814-1845’, reflected a renewed and growing interest in the promotion of a modern Irish national identity, some fifty years on from the Easter Rising. President Éamon de Valera unveiled the statue and fountain in memory of the nationalist Young Ireland leader.