Four Angels Fountain ~ Bronze
Sculptor ~ Edward Delaney
The Four Angels Fountain at College Green, Dublin, Ireland, is a secondary piece to the Davis Memorial. The statue of Davis, was unveiled on College Green, Dublin, in 1966.
Designed by Edward Delaney and known locally as the ‘peeing angels’, the fountain in memory of Thomas Davis depicts trumpeting Heralds of the Four Provinces proclaiming one of Davis’s best-known poems A Nation Again. The surrounding tablets illustrate harrowing scenes from the Great Famine of the 1840s.
A Nation Once Again was first published in The Nation on 13 July 1844 and quickly became a rallying call for the growing Irish nationalist movement at that time.
This site was previously occupied by an equestrian statue of William III. That monument was blown up six times before being completely destroyed by a bomb in 1946. The wreck was taken to a corporation yard and the horses huge lead testicles were melted down and used to repair a pipe.
In the background is the Bank of Ireland formerly known as the Irish Parliament House, was the world’s first purpose-built two-chamber parliament house.
The fountain is a great favorite of students, who regularly ‘clean up’ the angels with the addition of dish washing liquid!