Women statues at Belfast City Hall - a photo on Flickriver

International Women's Day 2024 saw the unveiling of two new statues of prominent women associated with the city at Belfast City Hall, slightly redressing the gender imbalance there.

The women shown here are, from left, Winifred Carney, Queen Victoria, and Mary Ann McCracken.

Winifred Carney (born in Bangor, Co Down) was James Connolly's secretary at the time of the 1916 Easter Rising and was present with him at the GPO in Dublin during the Rising. She was a trade unionist, and was a committed socialist throughout her fascinating life.

Queen Victoria, who died in 1901 during the construction of Belfast City Hall, needs no introduction. This statue was commissioned in 1897 for her Diamond Jubilee as monarch. She is however looking a bit gull-ible here - the statue is sufficiently high to provide an amiable avian perch. This photo just shows the upper part of her large and elaborate statue at the front of the CIty Hall.

Mary Ann McCracken was a prominent anti-slavery and social activist, including for women's rights, in 19th century Belfast. There are easily available bigraphies of her remarkable life and lots more online. She was also the brother of Henry Joy McCracken, a 1798 Rebellion leader who was executed following the failure of that rising against British rule.

Winifred Carney is depicted with her 1916 Rising Webley revolver or gun holster in her right hand. Whether adding an Irish republican gun to the British ones present around City Hall is an advance in relation to peace is a good question (to which the answer is probably 'no'). Meanwhile, it may be hard to believe but Queen Victoria was the elected spokesperson of Statues for Peace in 1991 www.flickr.com/photos/innateireland/27054228774/in/photol... and indeed she also became a CND supporter www.flickr.com/photos/innateireland/3337859910/

It is notable that there are still no Troubles peace memorials at Belfast City Hall - the nearest ones are in Victoria Street www.flickr.com/photos/innateireland/53332487100/in/datepo... and 'Nuala with the hula' at Queen Elizabeth Bridge, see www.flickr.com/photos/innateireland/26172406950/in/photol... (the comments in this 2016 entry about the lack of peace memorials at the City Hall remains valid). In contrast it is to be noted that the existing memorial to the victims of the Titanic disaster of 1912 was added to with the creation of a small memorial garden as the Titanic became a tourist phenomenon for Belfast.

A full listing of statues and memorialisation outside Belfast City Hall is at www.belfastcity.gov.uk/cityhallstatues

A final comment might be that the statues of Winifred Carney and Mary Ann McCracken are more 'down to earth' - literally - than the other statues around Belfast City Hall (being on smaller plinths).

Zoom in for more detail.

Taken on: March 12, 2024

Tags:

Belfast

Statues

Queen Victoria

Mary Ann McCracken

Women

Female representation « less

Sets appears in: • Irish history • Gender and peace

Camera: Panasonic DMC-TZ40, f/4.6, 1/60 sec, 9.7mm, ISO 200 (more info) (hide info)

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