1857 – Dawson Monument, Monaghan, Co. Monaghan

The Dawson Monument was built to commemorate Captain Vesey Dawson – a local landowner who died at the battle of Inkerman in 1854. A tall obelisk designed by W.J. Barre of Newry, the design was originally intended for Scrabo Hill as a memorial for Lord Londonderry but the commission was awarded to Charles Lanyon instead. The stele of the obelisk has the words Alma and Inkerman inscribed some way up. Damaged by a bomb in 1974 and by heavy traffic since, the obelisk is in need of stabilisation – a steel band has been placed around the top part to keep the stones together.

A newspaper report of the time: “The obelisk which is intended to commemorate the worth and gallantry of the Hon. Captain Vesey Dawson, brother of Lord Cremorne, who fell in the Crimean War, is rapidly approaching completion in the large open space fronting the Court-house, Monaghan. It has nearly attained its proposed height of fifty-two feet, and will, when finished, be a handsome ornament to the town. On the four sides there are spaces reserved for marble entablatures, whereon will be engraved the name and services, coat of arms, &c., of the deceased hero. The base of the pillar will be approached by a flight of broad steps, and at each side of it will be placed a gun captured from the Russians which the government has granted to the inhabitants of Monaghan. The memorial is the result of a very general subscription among the gentry and inhabitants of the county.”