A bronze statue of Irish American Hollywood star Maureen O'Hara was removed within 48 hours of going on display in West Cork last week.
The Maureen O'Hara statue was unveiled in Glengarriff, Co Cork on April 26, but the village's tourism board confirmed just days later that it had been removed.
"The statue was removed today," Visit Glengarriff said on Facebook.
"We don't have any further information at this point, but we will let you know about how our beloved Maureen is going to be remembered in the village in the long term.
"We thank you for your care for Glengarriff and Maureen O'Hara."
*UPDATE* The statue was removed today. We don't have any further information at this point, but we will let you know...
Posted by Visit Glengarriff on Tuesday, April 26, 2022
Locals flocked to social media to express their criticisms about the statute soon after it was unveiled:
“Lord God..that's dreadful...where is her likeness????..not in a million years would anyone looking at this guess it was beautiful Maureen O'Hara”
“Melt it down and start again. Maureen O'Hara was a true beauty. This does her a disservice.”
“What an insult to the Ppl of Glengarriff to have this cold and downright scary figure plonked on paving bricks in their midst.”
“What a grossly distorted piece of junk. “
“She looks more of a banshee than a beauty??”
"Doesn't look one bit like her Maureen O Hara was a beautiful woman she would laugh at it"
The Maureen O'Hara statue in Glengarriff has already endured a bumpy ride. Plans for a memorial statue were put forth in 2017, but in December 2020, Cork County Council accepted a refund of €26,250, as well as the unused statue, after it was deemed unsuitable for installation.
Now it seems the latest Maureen O'Hara statue has met a similar fate.
O'Hara, who was born in Ranelagh in Dublin, rocketed to fame in Hollywood thanks in large part to her role as Mary Kate Danaher in John Ford's "The Quiet Man," in which she starred opposite John Wayne.
In 1970, O'Hara and her husband, Captain Charles F. Blair, Jr, purchased a home in Glengarriff in West Cork. Just eight years later, Blair was tragically killed in a plane crash.
After her husband's death, O’Hara used the house, Lugdine Park, as a holiday retreat before settling there permanently in 2005.
In October 2014, O’Hara announced that she would be bidding farewell to her native Ireland and moving to the US to live with her grandson and his family in Idaho. Shortly thereafter, Lugdine Park went on the market.
When she announced that she would be leaving Ireland, O’Hara shared her memories of Lugdine Park and her fondness for Glengarriff in a statement to the Irish Times in 2014.
“I have so many happy memories of Lugdine Park," she said at the time. "I will cherish them my whole life and so with a smile, I pass the home on to a lucky family who will love her as much as I do. They have the most wonderful neighbors a person can hope for in Glengarriff.
“I can never fully express my gratitude for their kindness and the special place each of them holds in my heart. It’s a lovely village filled with wonderful people who are so proud of this magical piece of heaven. She is with me always in my heart.”
O'Hara died on October 24, 2015, in Boise, Idaho, and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, DC.
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