165-690: Nelson's Pillar (also known as the Nelson Pillar or simply the Pillar ) was a large granite column capped by a statue of Horatio Nelson , built in the centre of what was then Sackville Street (later renamed O'Connell Street ) in Dublin , Ireland. Completed in 1809 when Ireland was part of the United Kingdom , it survived until March 1966, when it was severely damaged by explosives planted by Irish republicans . Its remnants were later destroyed by
330-478: A planned expedition , under the command of Constantine Phipps , intended to survey a passage in the Arctic by which it was hoped that India could be reached: the fabled North-East Passage . At his nephew's request, Suckling arranged for Nelson to join the expedition as coxswain to Commander Skeffington Lutwidge aboard the converted bomb vessel , HMS Carcass . The expedition reached within ten degrees of
495-495: A French frigate, but on failing to catch her, sailed for Leghorn , and then to Corsica. He arrived at Toulon on 5 October, where he found that a large French army had occupied the hills surrounding the city and was bombarding it. Hood still hoped the city could be held if more reinforcements arrived, and sent Nelson to join a squadron operating off Cagliari . Early on the morning of 22 October 1793, Agamemnon sighted five sails. Nelson closed with them and discovered that they were
660-460: A French squadron. He promptly gave chase, firing on the 40-gun Melpomene . During the action of 22 October 1793 , he inflicted considerable damage, but the remaining French ships turned to join the battle. Realising he was outnumbered, Nelson withdrew and continued to Cagliari, arriving on 24 October. After making repairs, Nelson and Agamemnon sailed for Tunis on 26 October with a squadron under Commodore Robert Linzee . On his arrival, Nelson
825-552: A brief affair with a local woman, Adelaide Correglia. Hotham arrived with the rest of the fleet in December, whereupon Nelson and Agamemnon sailed on a number of cruises with them in late 1794 and early 1795. On 8 March, news reached Hotham that the French fleet was at sea and heading for Corsica. He immediately set out to intercept them, and Nelson eagerly anticipated his first fleet action. The French were reluctant to engage, and
990-593: A brief return to England, he took over the Cádiz blockade, in 1805. On 21 October 1805, the Franco-Spanish fleet came out of port, and Nelson's fleet engaged them at the Battle of Trafalgar . The battle became one of Britain's greatest naval victories, but Nelson, aboard HMS Victory , was fatally wounded by a musket ball fired from the French ship Redoutable . His body was brought back to England, where he
1155-495: A buffer state. The Admiralty recalled Nelson to service and gave him command of the 64-gun HMS Agamemnon , in January 1793. Nelson took his stepson Josiah with him as a midshipman. On 1 February, France declared war. In May 1793, Nelson sailed as part of a division under the command of Vice Admiral William Hotham , joined later in the month by the rest of Lord Hood's fleet. The force initially sailed to Gibraltar and—with
1320-465: A decisive action. A number of small engagements were fought , but to Nelson's dismay, he saw little action. Nelson returned to operate out of Genoa, intercepting and inspecting merchantmen and cutting-out suspicious vessels, in both enemy and neutral harbours. Nelson formulated ambitious plans for amphibious landings and naval assaults to frustrate the progress of the French Army of Italy , which
1485-738: A decisive victory over the French at the Battle of the Nile and remained in the Mediterranean to support the Kingdom of Naples against a French invasion. In 1801, Nelson was dispatched to the Baltic Sea and defeated neutral Denmark at the Battle of Copenhagen . He commanded the blockade of the French and Spanish fleets at Toulon and, after their escape, chased them to the West Indies and back but failed to bring them to battle. After
1650-482: A desire that the fallen hero should be commemorated. The mercantile classes had particular reason to be grateful for a victory that restored the freedom of the high seas and removed the threat of a French invasion. Many of the city's population had relatives who had been involved in the battle: up to one-third of the sailors in Nelson's fleet were from Ireland, including around 400 from Dublin itself. In his short account of
1815-667: A desire to arrest the street's decline in the post-parliamentary years, were factors that may have influenced the final selection of that site which, Kennedy says, was the preferred choice of the Lord Lieutenant. By mid-1807, fundraising was proving difficult; sums raised at that point were well short of the likely cost of erecting Wilkins's column. The committee informed the architect with regret that "means were not placed in their hands to enable them to gratify him, as well as themselves, by executing his design precisely as he had given it". They employed Francis Johnston , architect to
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#17327876991331980-711: A different statue—was likewise rejected. In 1988, as part of the Dublin Millennium celebrations, businessman Michael Smurfit commissioned in memory of his father the Smurfit Millennium Fountain, erected close to the site of the pillar. The fountain included a bronze statue of Anna Livia , a personification of the River Liffey, sculpted by Éamonn O'Doherty . The monument was not universally appreciated; O'Doherty's fellow-sculptor Edward Delaney called it an "atrocious eyesore". 1988 saw
2145-460: A formal design competition for a monument to mark the new millennium in 2000. The winning entry was Ian Ritchie 's Spire of Dublin , a plain, needle-like structure rising 120 metres (390 ft) from the street. The design was approved; on 22 January 2003 it was completed, despite some political and artistic opposition. During the excavations preceding the Spire's construction, the foundation stone of
2310-449: A former IRA member, Liam Sutcliffe, claimed he had placed the bomb which detonated in the Pillar. In the 1950s Sutcliffe was associated with a group of dissident volunteers led by Rás Tailteann founder Joe Christle (1927–1998), who had been expelled from the IRA in 1956 for "recklessness". In early 1966 Sutcliffe learned that Christle's group was planning "Operation Humpty Dumpty", an attack on
2475-541: A frigate, were sighted closing fast. Unable to outrun them, Nelson was initially determined to fight, but Culverhouse and Hardy raised the British colours and sailed northeast, drawing the Spanish ships after them until being captured, giving Nelson the opportunity to escape. Nelson went on to rendezvous with the British fleet at Elba, where he spent Christmas. He sailed for Gibraltar in late January, and—after learning that
2640-663: A memorial to the recently deceased Sir John Gray , who had done much to provide Dublin with a clean water supply. The Corporation was unable to advance this idea. In 1882 the Moore Street Market and Dublin City Improvement Act was passed by the Westminster parliament, overriding the trust and giving the Corporation authority to resite the Pillar, but subject to a strict timetable, within which
2805-506: A number of decisive British naval victories during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars . He is widely regarded as one of the greatest naval commanders in British history. Nelson was born into a moderately prosperous Norfolk family and joined the navy through the influence of his uncle, Maurice Suckling , a high-ranking naval officer. Nelson rose rapidly through the ranks and served with leading naval commanders of
2970-550: A poor facsimile of his signature—appears out of character for Nelson whose many other surviving letters never expressed racist or pro-slavery sentiments. Comparison with the "pressed copy" of the original letter—now part of the Bridport papers held in the British Library—shows that the published copy had 25 alterations, distorting it to give it a more anti-Abolitionist slant. Many of Nelson's actions indicate his position on
3135-549: A rumoured mistress of fellow captain William Cornwallis ; she ran a combination lodging-house and convalescence home for sailors. He was discharged in August and returned to Britain aboard HMS Lion , arriving in late November. Nelson gradually recovered over several months, and soon began agitating for a command. He was appointed to the frigate HMS Albemarle on 15 August 1781. While Nelson served in
3300-660: A slaveowner who was born into a family which belonged to the Antiguan plantocracy . One of his friends in the West Indies was Simon Taylor , one of the richest plantation owners in Jamaica who owned hundreds of slaves. In 1805, Taylor wrote to Nelson, requesting that he publicly intervene in favour of the pro-slavery side in Britain's debate over abolition. Nelson wrote a letter back to Taylor, writing that "while [he had] ...
3465-464: A small force of frigates and sloops, bound for Genoa. On 6 July, Nelson ran into the French fleet and found himself pursued by several, much larger ships-of-the-line. He retreated to San Fiorenzo, arriving just ahead of the pursuing French, who broke off as Nelson's signal guns alerted the British fleet in the harbour. Hotham pursued the French to the Hyères Islands , but failed to bring them to
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#17327876991333630-607: A tall Doric column on a plinth, surmounted by a sculpted Roman galley . The choice of the Sackville Street site was not unanimous. The Wide Streets Commissioners were worried about traffic congestion, and argued for a riverside location visible from the sea. Another suggestion was for a seaside position, perhaps Howth Head at the entrance to Dublin Bay . The recent presence of the Blakeney statue in Sackville Street, and
3795-468: A through current of traffic at this point". In a 1955 radio broadcast Thomas Bodkin , former director of the National Gallery of Ireland , praised not only the monument, but Nelson himself: "He was a man of extraordinary gallantry. He lost his eye fighting bravely, and his arm in a similar fashion". On 29 October 1955, a group of nine students from University College Dublin obtained keys from
3960-542: A tongue", he would "launch [his] voice against the damnable and cursed (sic) doctrine of Wilberforce and his hypocritical allies". In the same letter, Nelson also wrote that he had always "[endeavoured] to serve the Public weal, of which the West India Colonies form so prominent and interesting a part. I have ever been, and shall die, a firm friend to our present Colonial system. I was bred, as you know, in
4125-516: The 27th Foot in 1737, with the support of the Duke of Richmond . When trade disputes with Spain led to the outbreak of the War of Jenkins' Ear in 1739, Blakeney was appointed brigadier general in the expeditionary force sent to reinforce Admiral Vernon . His reputation for training was a factor in his selection, since the force included 3,000 newly recruited American colonial militia. He took part in
4290-461: The Badger to Cuthbert Collingwood , while he awaited the arrival of his new ship: the 28-gun frigate HMS Hinchinbrook , newly captured from the French. While Nelson waited, news reached Parker that a French fleet under the command of Charles Hector, comte d'Estaing , was approaching Jamaica. Parker hastily organized his defences and placed Nelson in command of Fort Charles , which covered
4455-461: The Battle of Genoa . Nelson joined the other British ships in attacking the battered Ça Ira , now under tow from Censeur . Heavily damaged, the two French ships were forced to surrender, and Nelson took possession of Censeur . Defeated at sea, the French abandoned their plan to invade Corsica and returned to port. Nelson and the fleet remained in the Mediterranean throughout the summer of 1795. On 4 July, Agamemnon sailed from San Fiorenzo, with
4620-407: The Duke of Richmond , along with various civic dignitaries and city notables. A memorial plaque eulogising Nelson's Trafalgar victory was attached to the stone. The committee continued to raise money as construction proceeded; when the project was complete in the autumn of 1809, costs totalled £6,856, but contributions had reached £7,138, providing the committee with a surplus of £282. When finished,
4785-607: The Imperial Hotel that Thackeray had admired. Of the GPO, only the façade remained; against the tide of opinion Bernard Shaw said the demolition of the city's classical architecture scarcely mattered: "What does matter is the Liffey slums have not been demolished". An account in a New York newspaper reported that the Pillar had been lost in the destruction of the street, but it had sustained only minor damage, chiefly bullet marks on
4950-509: The Irish Army . The decision to build the monument was taken by Dublin Corporation in the euphoria following Nelson's victory at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. The original design by William Wilkins was greatly modified by Francis Johnston , on grounds of cost. The statue was sculpted by Thomas Kirk . From its opening on 29 October 1809 the Pillar was a popular tourist attraction, but provoked aesthetic and political controversy from
5115-566: The Irish peerage , delirium tremens left him barely able to write his name, and this ended his military career. He died on 20 September 1761 in Ireland and later buried in the nave of Westminster Abbey ; the gravestone still exists, but the inscription is now very faint. Weapons drill and infantry training was a common topic among professional officers; Blakeney suggested using puppets to demonstrate drill positions to recruits. After Culloden, he
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5280-499: The North Pole , but, unable to find a way through the dense ice floes, was forced to turn back. By 1800, Lutwidge had begun to circulate a story that, while the ship had been trapped in the ice, Nelson had spotted and pursued a polar bear , before being ordered to return to the ship. Later, in 1809, Lutwidge had it that Nelson, and a companion, gave chase to the bear and upon being questioned as to why, replied: "I wished, Sir, to get
5445-556: The Republic of Ireland and left the British Commonwealth, but not all Irish opinion favoured the removal of the Pillar. That year the architectural historian John Harvey called it "a grand work", and argued that without it, "O'Connell Street would lose much of its vitality". Most of the pressure to get rid of it, he said, came from "traffic maniacs who ... fail to visualise the chaos which would result from creating
5610-661: The River Liffey began in the early 18th century, largely through the enterprise of the property speculator Luke Gardiner . His best-known work was the transformation in the 1740s of a narrow lane called Drogheda Street, which he demolished and turned into a broad thoroughfare lined with large and imposing town houses. He renamed it Sackville Street, in honour of Lionel Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset , who served as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland from 1731 to 1737 and from 1751 to 1755. After Gardiner's death in 1755 Dublin's growth continued, with many fine public buildings and grand squares,
5775-469: The Royal Irish Academy of Music was considering legal measures to prevent removal of the remaining stump. Reactions among the general public were relatively light-hearted, typified by the numerous songs inspired by the incident. These included the immensely popular " Up Went Nelson ", set to the tune of " John Brown's Body " and performed by a group of Belfast schoolteachers, which remained at
5940-505: The West Indies , he came into contact with several prominent white colonists residing there, forming friendships with many of them. These relationships led Nelson to absorb their proslavery views, particularly the view that slavery was necessary to the islands' economic prosperity. According to Grindal, Nelson later used his social influence to counter the emerging abolitionist movement in Britain . University of Southampton academic Christer Petley contextualises this view: The debate over
6105-597: The 1697 Treaty of Ryswick . When the War of the Spanish Succession began in 1701, he was reactivated and fought at the battles of Schellenberg , Blenheim and Ramillies . He was promoted captain in April 1707. In March 1708, he was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Foot Guards , although only 16 of its nominal 24 companies were actually formed, and Blakeney remained with his original unit. Under
6270-691: The 50th anniversary of the Easter Rising , and its sudden demise was, on the whole, well-received by the public. Although it was widely believed that the action was the work of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), the Garda Síochána were unable to identify any of those responsible. After years of debate and numerous proposals, the site was occupied in 2003 by the Spire of Dublin , a slim needle-like structure rising almost three times
6435-632: The Americans and the colonies. Nelson served on the station under Admiral Sir Richard Hughes , and often came into conflict with his superior officer over their differing interpretation of the Acts. The captains of the American vessels Nelson had seized sued him for illegal seizure. Because the merchants of the nearby island of Nevis supported the American claim, Nelson was in peril of imprisonment; he remained sequestered on Boreas for eight months, until
6600-683: The British government. In 1923, when Sackville Street was again in ruins during the Irish Civil War , The Irish Builder and Engineer magazine called the original siting of the Pillar a "blunder" and asked for its removal, a view echoed by the Dublin Citizens Association. The poet William Butler Yeats , who had become a member of the Irish Senate , favoured its re-erection elsewhere, but thought it should not, as some wished, be destroyed, because "the life and work of
6765-618: The British in 1708, the island was considered vital for control of the Western Mediterranean. However, it was also vulnerable; the Spanish deeply resented British occupation, while it was only two days sail from Cádiz , and one from the French naval base at Toulon . Since the nominal governor, Baron Tyrawley , never visited Menorca, Blakeney was its effective ruler. He attempted to reduce local opposition by encouraging his troops to marry local women, and by controlling Catholic schools and institutions, but neither of these measures
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6930-466: The British with a naval base close to the French coast. Hood therefore reinforced Nelson with extra ships during January 1794. A British assault force landed on the island on 7 February, after which, Nelson moved to intensify the blockade off Bastia . For the rest of the month, he carried out raids along the coast and intercepted enemy shipping. By late February, San Fiorenzo had fallen and British troops, under Lieutenant-General David Dundas , entered
7095-534: The Caribbean. Privately, he came to sympathise with their political outlook. It is clear that, by the time of his death at Trafalgar, he despised Wilberforce and stood in staunch opposition to the British abolitionist campaign. Over the course of his life, Nelson came into contact numerous times with aspects of slavery and the people who were involved in that institution. These included both his relationships with Caribbean plantation owners and his marriage to Fanny,
7260-485: The City Board of Works, to make cost-cutting adjustments to Wilkins's scheme. Johnston simplified the design, substituting a large functional block or pedestal for Wilkins's delicate plinth, and replacing the proposed galley with a statue of Nelson. Thomas Kirk , a sculptor from Cork , was commissioned to provide the statue, to be fashioned from Portland stone . By December 1807 the fund stood at £3,827, far short of
7425-523: The French quickly occupied the island and began the Siege of Fort St Philip , which was commanded by Blakeney. An attempt by Admiral John Byng to lift the siege was repulsed in May, and Blakeney surrendered on 29 June. The garrison was given free passage to Gibraltar , whose governor was Thomas Fowke , court-martialled but acquitted in 1746 for the defeat at Prestonpans . In the inquiry that followed, Fowke
7590-424: The GPO where they declared an Irish Republic under a provisional government. One of the first recorded actions of the Easter Rising occurred near the Pillar when lancers from the nearby Marlborough Street barracks, sent to investigate the disturbance, were fired on from the GPO. They withdrew in confusion, leaving four soldiers and two horses dead. During the days that followed, Sackville Street and particularly
7755-580: The Heart of the Hibernian Metropolis" The destruction of the Pillar brought a temporary glut of popular songs, including " Nelson's Farewell ", by The Dubliners , in which Nelson's airborne demise is presented as Ireland's contribution to the space race . During its more than 150 years, the Pillar was an integral if controversial part of Dublin life, and was often reflected in Irish literature of
7920-623: The Irish parliament passed the Nelson Pillar Act, terminating the Pillar Trust and vesting ownership of the site in Dublin Corporation. The trustees received £21,170 in compensation for the Pillar's destruction, and a further sum for loss of income. In the debate, Senator Owen Sheehy-Skeffington argued that the Pillar had been capable of repair and should have been re-assembled and rebuilt. For more than twenty years
8085-540: The MP for Athenry and High Sheriff of County Galway for over a century. Blakeney inherited his father's property, but reputedly lived on his military pay and allowed his brothers use of the family estate. He never married, and on his death in 1761, the property passed to Major Robert Blakeney, his younger brother. During the 1689 to 1691 Williamite War in Ireland , Blakeney remained at Mount Blakeney to defend his estates against raids by Irish irregulars or Rapparees , while
8250-653: The Nelson Pillar was recovered. Press stories that a time capsule containing valuable coins had also been discovered fascinated the public for a while, but proved illusory. Before Nelson's Pillar trams slowed, shunted, changed trolley, started for Blackrock, Kingstown and Dalkey, Clonskea, Rathgar and Terenure ... Sandymount Green, Rathmines, Ringsend and Sandymount Tower, Harold's Cross. The hoarse Dublin United Tramway Company's timekeeper bawled them off. James Joyce: Ulysses . Section 7: "In
8415-678: The North the possibility of dismantling and re-erecting the monument in Belfast was raised in the Stormont parliament , but the initiative failed to gain the support of the Northern Ireland government. In 1959 a new Fianna Fáil government under Seán Lemass deferred the question of the Pillar's removal on the grounds of cost; five years later Lemass agreed to "look at" the question of replacing Nelson's statue with one of Patrick Pearse ,
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#17327876991338580-538: The Phoenix Park had all fallen victim to republican bombings, while Queen Victoria had been rather unceremoniously dumped from her vantage point in Leinster House, removed on her back through the front gates. Donal Fallon: "Dispelling the myths about the bombing of Nelson's Pillar" On 8 March 1966, a powerful explosion destroyed the upper portion of the Pillar and brought Nelson's statue crashing to
8745-513: The Pillar "the grandest thing we have in Dublin", where "the statue in whiter stone gazed forever south towards Trafalgar and the Nile". That Pillar, says Gogarty, "marks the end of a civilization, the culmination of the great period of eighteenth century Dublin". Yeats's 1927 poem "The Three Monuments" has Parnell, Nelson and O'Connell on their respective monuments, mocking Ireland's post-independence leaders for their rigid morality and lack of courage,
8910-571: The Pillar's custodian and locked themselves inside, with an assortment of equipment including flame throwers . From the gallery they hung a poster of Kevin Barry , a Dublin Irish Republican Army (IRA) volunteer executed by the British during the War of Independence. A crowd gathered below, and began to sing the Irish rebel song " Kevin Barry ". Eventually members of the Gardaí broke into the Pillar and ended
9075-506: The Pillar's fabric. The original entry on the west side, whereby visitors entered the pedestal by a flight of steps taking them down below street level, was replaced by a new ground level entrance on the south side, with a grand porch. The whole monument was surrounded by heavy iron railings. In the new century, despite the growing nationalism within Dublin—80 per cent of the Corporation's councillors were nationalists of some description—the pillar
9240-475: The Pillar, Dennis Kennedy considers that Nelson would have been regarded in the city as a hero, not just among the Protestant Ascendancy but by many Catholics among the rising middle and professional classes. The first step towards a permanent memorial to Nelson was taken on 18 November 1805 by the city aldermen , who after sending a message of congratulation to King George III , agreed that
9405-615: The Pillar, Wellington's obelisk has attracted little controversy and has not been the subject of physical attacks. On Easter Monday , 24 April 1916, units of the Irish Volunteers and the Irish Citizen Army seized several prominent buildings and streets in central Dublin, including the General Post Office (GPO) in Sackville Street, one of the buildings nearest the Pillar. They set up headquarters at
9570-401: The Pillar, and offered his services. According to Sutcliffe, on 28 February he placed a bomb within the Pillar, timed to go off in the early hours of the next morning. The explosive was a mixture of gelignite and ammonal . It failed to detonate; Sutcliffe says that he returned early the next morning, recovered the device and redesigned its timer. On 7 March, shortly before the Pillar closed for
9735-400: The Pillar, or replace the statue, required the passage of an Act of Parliament in London; Dublin Corporation (the city government) had no authority in the matter. No action followed the city plan suggestion, but the following years saw regular attempts to remove the monument. A proposal was made in 1876 by Alderman Peter McSwiney, a former Lord Mayor, to replace the "unsightly structure" with
9900-405: The Pillar, states that almost from its inception the Blakeney statue was a target for vandalism. Its fate is uncertain; Fallon records that it might have been melted down for cannon, but it had certainly been removed by 1805. On 21 October 1805, a Royal Naval fleet commanded by Vice Admiral Lord Nelson defeated the combined fleets of the French and Spanish navies in the Battle of Trafalgar . At
10065-449: The Reverend Edmund Nelson at Beccles Church, Suffolk , in 1749. Nelson attended Paston Grammar School , North Walsham , until he was 12 years old, and also attended King Edward VI's Grammar School in Norwich . His naval career began on 1 January 1771, when he reported to the newly commissioned third-rate HMS Raisonnable as an ordinary seaman and coxswain under his maternal uncle, Captain Maurice Suckling, who commanded
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#173278769913310230-438: The Spanish fleet had sailed from Cartagena —stopped just long enough to collect Hardy, Culverhouse, and the rest of the prize crew captured with Santa Sabina , before pressing on through the straits to join Sir John Jervis off Cadiz . Nelson joined Sir John Jervis ' fleet off Cape St Vincent , and reported the Spanish movements. Jervis decided to engage and the two fleets met on 14 February 1797. Nelson found himself towards
10395-424: The West Indies in order to take part in Major-General John Dalling's attempt to capture the Spanish colonies in Central America , including an assault on the Fortress of the Immaculate Conception on the San Juan River in Nicaragua. In February 1780, Hinchinbrook sailed from Jamaica as an escort for Dalling's invasion force. After sailing up the mouth of the San Juan River, Nelson's expeditionary force obtained
10560-439: The approaches to Kingston . D'Estaing instead headed north, and the anticipated invasion never materialised. Nelson took command of the Hinchinbrook on 1 September 1779. Hinchinbrook sailed from Port Royal on 5 October and, in company with other British ships, proceeded to capture a number of American prizes. On his return to Jamaica in December, Nelson began to be troubled by recurrent attacks of malaria. Nelson remained in
10725-429: The area around the Pillar became a battleground. According to some histories, insurgents attempted to blow up the Pillar. The accounts are unconfirmed and were disputed by many that fought in the Rising, on the grounds that the Pillar's large base provided them with useful cover as they moved to and from other rebel positions. By Thursday night, British artillery fire had set much of Sackville Street ablaze, but according to
10890-566: The assault. Several of the officers involved criticised Nelson, but Hood does not appear to have reprimanded him. Nelson spent the rest of the war cruising in the West Indies, where he captured a number of French and Spanish prizes. After news of the peace reached Hood, Nelson returned to Britain in late June 1783. Nelson visited France in late 1783 and stayed with acquaintances at Saint-Omer ; briefly attempting to learn French during his stay. He returned to England in January 1784, and attended court as part of Lord Hood's entourage. Influenced by
11055-407: The city authorities found it impossible to act. The Act lapsed and the Pillar remained; a similar attempt, with the same result, was made in 1891. Not all Dubliners favoured demolition; some businesses considered the Pillar to be the city's focal point, and the tramway company petitioned for its retention as it marked the central tram terminus. "In many ways", says Fallon, "the pillar had become part of
11220-459: The city's status magnified by the presence of the Parliament of Ireland for six months of the year. The Acts of Union of 1800 , which united Ireland and Great Britain under a single Westminster polity , ended the Irish parliament and presaged a period of decline for the city. The historian Tristram Hunt writes: "[T]he capital's dynamism vanished, absenteeism returned and the big houses lost their patrons". The first monument in Sackville Street
11385-425: The column and its pedestal. The Pillar opened to the public on 21 October 1809, on the fourth anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar; for ten pre-decimal pence, visitors could climb to a viewing platform just below the statue, and enjoy what an early report describes as "a superb panoramic view of the city, the country and the fine bay". The Pillar quickly became a popular tourist attraction; Kennedy writes that "for
11550-405: The column and statue itself—one shot is said to have taken off Nelson's nose. After the Irish war of Independence 1919–21 and the treaty that followed, Ireland was partitioned; Dublin became the capital of the Irish Free State , a Dominion within the British Commonwealth of Nations . From December 1922, when the Free State was inaugurated, the Pillar became an issue for the Irish rather than
11715-482: The convoy in late May, then detached on a cruise to hunt American privateers . Nelson was generally unsuccessful; he succeeded only in retaking several captured British merchant ships, and capturing a number of small fishing boats and assorted craft. In August 1782, Nelson had a narrow escape from a far superior French force under Louis-Philippe de Vaudreuil , only evading them after a prolonged chase. Nelson arrived at Quebec on 18 September. He sailed again as part of
11880-555: The convoy to return to port, but severe storms hampered him. Gales almost wrecked Albemarle , as she was a poorly designed ship and an earlier accident had left her damaged, but Nelson eventually brought her into Portsmouth , in February 1782. There, the Admiralty ordered him to fit Albemarle for sea and join the escort for a convoy collecting at Cork , Ireland, to sail for Quebec , Canada. Nelson arrived off Newfoundland with
12045-437: The costliest British disaster of the entire war. Despite this, Nelson was praised for his efforts. Parker recalled Nelson and gave him command of the 44-gun frigate, HMS Janus . In 1780, Nelson fell seriously ill with what seemed to be dysentery and possibly yellow fever , in the jungles of Costa Rica , and was unable to take command. He was taken to Kingston, Jamaica, to be nursed by "doctoress" Cubah Cornwallis ,
12210-469: The courts ruled in his favour. In the interim, Nelson met Frances "Fanny" Nisbet , a young widow from a Nevis plantation family. Nelson developed an affection for her. In response, her uncle, John Herbert, offered him a massive dowry . Both Herbert and Nisbet concealed the fact that their famed riches were a fiction, and Fanny did not disclose the fact that she was infertile due to a womb infection. Once they were engaged, Herbert offered Nelson nowhere near
12375-490: The day, he climbed the inner stairway and placed the refurbished bomb near to the top of the shaft before going home. He learned of the success of his mission the next day, he says, having slept undisturbed through the night. Following his revelations, Sutcliffe was questioned by the Garda Síochána but not charged. He did not name others involved in the action, apart from Christle and his brother, Mick. On 29 April 1969
12540-546: The demonstration. No action was taken against the students, whose principal purpose, the Gardaí claimed, was publicity. In 1956, members of the Fianna Fáil party, then in opposition, proposed that the statue be replaced by one of Robert Emmet , Protestant leader of an abortive rebellion in 1803 . They thought that such a gesture might inspire Protestants in Northern Ireland to fight for a reunited Ireland. In
12705-465: The destruction of the domination itself". In the absence of any leads, rumours suggested that the Basque separatist movement ETA might be responsible, perhaps as part of a training exercise with an Irish republican splinter group; in the mid-1960s the explosives expertise of ETA was generally acknowledged. No further information was forthcoming until 2000, when during a Raidió Teilifís Éireann interview
12870-411: The disastrous attack of March 1741 on Cartagena de Indias and the short-lived occupation of Cuba . The West Indies was a notoriously unhealthy posting, and simply surviving was an achievement. Between 1740 and 1742, British navy and army deaths from disease and combat were estimated as over 20,000, with death rates of 80–90% among land forces. With little to show for the investment of men and money,
13035-515: The dispatches to Sardinia, Agamemnon arrived at Naples in early September. There, Nelson met King Ferdinand IV of Naples , followed by the British ambassador to the kingdom, William Hamilton . At some point during the negotiations for reinforcements, Nelson was introduced to Hamilton's new wife, Emma Hamilton , the former mistress of Hamilton's nephew, Charles Greville . The negotiations were successful, and 2,000 men and several ships were mustered by mid-September. Nelson put to sea in pursuit of
13200-598: The dowry he had promised. During the Georgian era , breaking a marital engagement was seen as quite dishonourable, and so Nelson and Nisbet were married at Montpelier Estate, on the island of Nevis, on 11 March 1787, shortly before the end of his tour of duty in the Caribbean. The marriage was registered at Fig Tree Church in St John's Parish on Nevis. Nelson returned to England in July, with Fanny following later. Following
13365-673: The end of 1778, which brought Nelson an estimated £400 (equivalent to £64,400 in 2023) in prize money . Parker appointed him as master and commander of the brig HMS Badger on 8 December. Nelson and Badger spent most of 1779 cruising off of the Central American coast, ranging as far as the British settlements at British Honduras (now Belize), and Nicaragua , but without much success at interception of enemy prizes. On his return to Port Royal , he learnt that Parker had promoted him to post-captain on 11 June, and intended to give him another command. Nelson handed over
13530-412: The enemy positions had been disabled and that night Stuart, supported by Nelson, stormed the main defensive position and captured it. Repositioning their guns, the British brought Calvi under constant bombardment, and the town surrendered on 10 August. Nelson did regain partial sight in his damaged eye after the siege, but by his own account could only "...distinguish light from dark but no object." After
13695-473: The erection of a statue would form a suitable tribute to Nelson's memory. On 28 November, after a public meeting had supported this sentiment, a "Nelson committee" was established, chaired by the Lord Mayor . It contained four of the city's Westminster MPs, alongside other city notables including Arthur Guinness , the son of the brewery founder. The committee's initial tasks were to decide precisely what form
13860-538: The escort for a convoy to New York. He arrived in mid-November and reported to Admiral Samuel Hood , commander of the New York station. At Nelson's request, Hood transferred him to his fleet and Albemarle sailed in company with Hood, bound for the West Indies. On their arrival, the British fleet took up position off Jamaica to await the arrival of de Vaudreuil's force. Nelson and the Albemarle were ordered to scout
14025-399: The estimated £6,500 required to finance the project. Nevertheless, by the beginning of 1808 the committee felt confident enough to begin the work, and organised the laying of the foundation stone. This ceremony took place on 15 February 1808—the day following the anniversary of Nelson's victory at the Battle of Cape St Vincent in 1797—amid much pomp, in the presence of the new Lord Lieutenant,
14190-412: The evacuation of the garrison at Elba. He then sailed for Gibraltar. During the passage, Nelson captured the Spanish frigate Santa Sabina and placed Lieutenants Jonathan Culverhouse and Thomas Hardy in charge of the captured vessel; taking the frigate's Spanish captain on board Minerve . Santa Sabina was part of a larger Spanish force and, the following morning, two Spanish ships-of-the-line, and
14355-525: The examination, and the next day received his commission, and an appointment to HMS Lowestoffe , which was preparing to sail to Jamaica , under Captain William Locker . She sailed on 16 May, arrived on 19 July, and after reprovisioning, carried out several cruises in Caribbean waters. After the outbreak of the American War of Independence , Lowestoffe took several prizes, one of which
14520-529: The fabric of the city". Kennedy writes: "A familiar and very large if rather scruffy piece of the city's furniture, it was The Pillar, Dublin's Pillar rather than Nelson's Pillar ... it was also an outing, an experience". The Dublin sculptor John Hughes invited students at the Metropolitan School of Art to "admire the elegance and dignity" of Kirk's statue, "and the beauty of the silhouette". In 1894 there were some significant alterations to
14685-496: The factional politics of the time , he contemplated standing for Parliament as a supporter of William Pitt , but was unable to find a seat . In 1784, Nelson received command of the frigate HMS Boreas , with the assignment to enforce the Navigation Acts in the vicinity of Antigua . Nelson hated Antigua and the only consolation was (Mrs) Mary Moutray whom he greatly admired. The Acts were unpopular with both
14850-478: The first government response to the action, the Justice minister , Brian Lenihan , condemned what he described as "an outrage which was planned and committed without any regard to the lives of the citizens". This response was considered "tepid" by The Irish Times , whose editorial deemed the attack "a direct blow to the prestige of the state and the authority of the government". Kennedy suggests that government anger
15015-593: The first, but this, Fallon says, is a myth; damage claims arising from the second explosion amounted to less than a quarter of the sum claimed as a result of the original blast. It was initially assumed that the monument was destroyed by the IRA . The Guardian reported on 9 March that six men had been arrested and questioned, but their identities were not revealed and there were no charges. An IRA spokesman denied involvement, stating that they had no interest in demolishing mere symbols of foreign domination: "We are interested in
15180-450: The future of slavery divided Britons. Wilberforce personified one type of British patriotism—arguing for an end to slave-trading on the basis that it was a blot on the reputation of a proud and Christian nation. Slaveholders offered their own patriotic arguments—maintaining that the trade was so instrumental to the imperial economy that Britain could ill-afford to stop it. Nelson had befriended several slaveholding colonists during his time in
15345-403: The glory of a mistress and the transformation of our senate into a discount office". In an early (1818) history of the city of Dublin, the writers express awe at the scale of the monument, but are critical of several of its features: its proportions are described as "ponderous", the pedestal as "unsightly" and the column itself as "clumsy". However, Walker's Hibernian Magazine thought the statue
15510-472: The good old school, and taught to appreciate the value of our West India possessions." This letter was published in 1807, by the anti-abolitionist faction; some eighteen months after Nelson's death, and out of context, in an apparent attempt to bolster their cause prior to the parliamentary vote on the Abolition Bill. The wording of the letter as published in 1807—not in Nelson's handwriting, and with
15675-438: The ground amid hundreds of tons of rubble. O'Connell Street was almost deserted at the time, although a dance in the nearby Hotel Metropole 's ballroom was about to end and brought crowds on to the street. There were no casualties—a taxi driver parked close by had a narrow escape—and damage to property was relatively light given the strength of the blast. What was left of the Pillar was a jagged stump, 70 feet (21 m) high. In
15840-462: The height of the Pillar. In 2000, a former republican activist gave a radio interview in which he admitted planting the explosives in 1966, but, after questioning him, the Gardaí decided not to take action. Relics of the Pillar are found in Dublin museums and appear as decorative stonework elsewhere and its memory is preserved in numerous works of Irish literature. The redevelopment of Dublin north of
16005-496: The height of the battle Nelson was mortally wounded on board his flagship, HMS Victory ; by the time he died later that day, victory was assured. Nelson had been hailed in Dublin seven years earlier, after the Battle of the Nile , as defender of the Harp and Crown, the respective symbols of Ireland and Britain. When news of Trafalgar reached the city on 8 November, there were similar scenes of patriotic celebration, together with
16170-708: The intention of establishing naval superiority in the Mediterranean—made their way to Toulon , anchoring off the port in July. Toulon was largely under the control of moderate republicans and royalists , but was threatened by the forces of the National Convention , which were marching on the city. Short of supplies and doubting their ability to defend themselves, the city authorities requested that Hood take it under his protection. Hood readily acquiesced, and sent Nelson to carry dispatches to Sardinia and Naples , requesting reinforcements. After delivering
16335-522: The launch of the Pillar Project, aimed at encouraging artists and architects to bring forward new ideas for an appropriate permanent memorial to replace Nelson. Suggestions included a 110 metres (360 ft) flagpole, a triumphal arch modelled on the Paris Arc de Triomphe , and a "Tower of Light" with a platform that would restore Nelson's view over the city. In 1997 Dublin Corporation announced
16500-598: The leader of the Easter Rising, in time for the 50th anniversary of the Rising in 1966. An offer from the Irish-born American trade union leader Mike Quill to finance the removal of the Pillar was not taken up, and as the anniversary approached, Nelson remained in place. There was an air of inevitability about Horatio Nelson's eventual demise; King William of Orange, King George II and Viscount Gough in
16665-606: The marriage he became the stepfather of Nisbet's 7-year-old son, Josiah Nisbet. Nelson remained with Boreas until she was paid off in November 1787. He and Fanny then divided their time between Bath and London, occasionally visiting Nelson's relations in Norfolk. In 1788, they settled at Nelson's childhood home at Burnham Thorpe. Now in reserve and on half-pay, he attempted to persuade the Admiralty—and other senior figures he
16830-521: The matter of slavery, most notably: Nelson received orders on 23 October 1781, to take the newly refitted Albemarle to sea. He was instructed to collect an inbound convoy of the Russia Company at Elsinore , and escort them back to Britain. For this operation, the Admiralty placed the frigates HMS Argo and HMS Enterprise under his command. Nelson successfully organised the convoy and escorted it into British waters. He then left
16995-481: The monument complete with its statue rose to a height of 134 feet (40.8 m). The four sides of the pedestal were engraved with the names and dates of Nelson's greatest victories. A spiral stairway of 168 steps ascended the hollow interior of the column, to a viewing platform immediately beneath the statue. According to the committee's published report, 22,090 cubic feet (626 m) of black limestone and 7,310 cubic feet (207 m) of granite had been used to build
17160-452: The monument should take and where it should be put. They had also to raise the funds to pay for it. Wording of memorial plaque laid with the foundation stone, 15 February 1808 At its first meeting the Nelson committee established a public subscription, and early in 1806 invited artists and architects to submit design proposals for a monument. No specifications were provided, but the contemporary European vogue in commemorative architecture
17325-477: The national spirit: "The conqueror is gone, but the scars which he left remain, and the victim will not even try to remove them". Man and boy I have lived in Dublin, on and off, for 68 years. When I was a young fellow we didn't talk about Nelson's Column or Nelson's Pillar, we spoke of the Pillar, and everyone knew what we meant[.] Thomas Bodkin, 1955 By 1949 the Irish Free State had evolved into
17490-478: The next 157 years its ascent was a must on every visitor's list". Yet from the beginning there were criticisms, on both political and aesthetic grounds. The September 1809 issue of the Irish Monthly Magazine , edited by the revolution-minded Walter "Watty" Cox, reported that "our independence has been wrested from us, not by the arms of France but by the gold of England. The statue of Nelson records
17655-556: The numerous passages for signs of the enemy, but it became clear by early 1783 that the French had eluded Hood. During his scouting operations, Nelson had developed a plan to attack the French garrison of the Turks Islands . Commanding a small flotilla of frigates, and smaller vessels, he landed a force of 167 seamen and marines early on the morning of 8 March, under a supporting bombardment. The French were found to be heavily entrenched and, after several hours, Nelson called off
17820-619: The obverse of the qualities of the "three old rascals". A later writer, Brendan Behan , in his Confessions of an Irish Rebel (1965) wrote from a Fenian perspective that Ireland owed Nelson nothing and that Dublin's poor regarded the Pillar as "a gibe at their own helplessness in their own country". In his poem "Dublin" (1939), written as the remaining vestiges of British overlordship were being removed from Ireland, Louis MacNeice envisages "Nelson on his pillar/ Watching his world collapse". Austin Clarke 's 1957 poem "Nelson's Pillar, Dublin" scorns
17985-491: The occupation of Elba , but by September, the Genoese had broken their neutrality to declare in favour of the French. By October, the Genoese position and continued French advances, led the British to decide that the Mediterranean fleet could no longer be supplied. They ordered it to be evacuated to Gibraltar. Nelson helped oversee the withdrawal from Corsica and, by December 1796, was aboard the frigate HMS Minerve , covering
18150-405: The occupation of Corsica, Hood ordered Nelson to open diplomatic relations with the city-state of Genoa —a strategically important potential ally. Soon afterwards, Hood returned to England and was succeeded by Admiral William Hotham as commander-in-chief in the Mediterranean. Nelson put into Leghorn and, while Agamemnon underwent repairs, met with other naval officers at the port and entertained
18315-465: The outset. A prominent city centre monument honouring an Englishman rankled as Irish nationalist sentiment grew, and throughout the 19th century there were calls for it to be removed, or replaced with a memorial to an Irish hero. It remained in the city as most of Ireland became the Irish Free State in 1922, and the Republic of Ireland in 1949. The chief legal barrier to its removal was
18480-417: The outskirts of Bastia. However, Dundas merely assessed the enemy positions and then withdrew, arguing that the French were too well entrenched to risk an assault. Nelson convinced Hood otherwise, but a protracted debate between the army and naval commanders meant that Nelson did not receive permission to proceed until late March. Nelson began to land guns from his ships and emplace them in the hills surrounding
18645-599: The people who built it are part of our tradition." Sackville Street was renamed O'Connell Street in 1924. The following year the Dublin Metropolitan Police and the Dublin Civic Survey demanded legislation to allow the Pillar's removal, without success. Pressure continued, and in 1926 The Manchester Guardian reported that the Pillar was to be taken down, "as it was a hindrance to modern traffic". Requests for action—removal, destruction or
18810-585: The period before obtaining his own command at the age of 20, in 1778. He developed a reputation for personal valour and a firm grasp of tactics, but suffered periods of illness and unemployment after the end of the American War of Independence . The outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars allowed Nelson to return to service, where he was particularly active in the Mediterranean . He fought in several minor engagements off Toulon and
18975-543: The period. James Joyce 's novel Ulysses (1922) is a meticulous depiction of the city on a single day, 16 June 1904. At the base of the Pillar trams from all parts of the city come and go; meanwhile the character Stephen Dedalus fantasises a scene involving two elderly spinsters, who climb the steps to the viewing gallery where they eat plums and spit the stones down on those below, while gazing up at "the onehandled adulterer". Oliver St. John Gogarty , in his literary memoir As I Was Going Down Sackville Street , considers
19140-462: The practice known as double-ranking, Guards officers held a second, higher army rank; for example, a Guards lieutenant ranked as an army major. In addition, such units were rarely disbanded and their officers given precedence when deciding promotions, making it a cheap way to reward competent but poor officers. John Huske (1692–1761), one of Blakeney's colleagues during the Jacobite rising of 1745 ,
19305-507: The queen attended the Dublin Great Industrial Exhibition , where a city plan was displayed that envisaged the removal of the Pillar. This proved impossible, as since 1811 legal responsibility for the Pillar had been vested in a trust, under the terms of which the trustees were required "to embellish and uphold the monument in perpetuation of the object for which it was subscribed". Any action to remove or resite
19470-619: The rear of the British line and realised that it would be a long time before he could bring Captain into action. Instead of continuing to follow the line, Nelson disobeyed orders and wore ship , breaking from the line and heading to engage the Spanish van—consisting of the 112-gun San Josef , the 80-gun San Nicolas , and the 130-gun Santísima Trinidad . Captain engaged all three, assisted by HMS Culloden , which had come to Nelson's aid. William Blakeney, 1st Baron Blakeney Lieutenant-General William Blakeney, 1st Baron Blakeney , KB (7 September 1672 – 20 September 1761)
19635-470: The replacement of the statue with that of an Irish hero—continued up to the Second World War and beyond; the main stumbling blocks remained the trustees' strict interpretation of the terms of the trust, and the unwillingness of successive Irish governments to take legislative action. In 1936 the magazine of the ultra-nationalist Blueshirts movement remarked that this inactivity showed a failure in
19800-645: The rest of his family relocated to Castleblakeney. In 1692, he joined his uncle George Blakeney in Flanders ; serving as a volunteer, he was wounded at the Namur on 31 August 1695 during the attack on the Terra Nova earthwork which allegedly inspired the song ' The British Grenadiers '. In September 1695, he was commissioned as an ensign in The Royal Regiment of Foot , then placed on half-pay after
19965-474: The ships blockading the French coast as a commodore . Nelson spent the first half of the year conducting operations to frustrate French advances and bolster Britain's Italian allies. Despite some minor successes in intercepting small French warships—such as in the action of 31 May 1796 , when Nelson's squadron captured a convoy of seven small vessels—he began to feel the British presence on the Italian peninsula
20130-584: The site stood empty, while various campaigns sought to fill the space. In 1970 the Arthur Griffith Society suggested a monument to Arthur Griffith , founder of Sinn Féin , and Pearse, whose centenary would fall in 1979, was the subject of several proposals. None of these schemes were accepted by the Corporation. A request in 1987 by the Dublin Metropolitan Streets Commission that the Pillar be rebuilt—with
20295-584: The skin for my father." Nelson briefly returned to Triumph , after the expedition's return to Britain, in September 1773. Suckling then arranged for his transfer to HMS Seahorse ; one of two ships about to sail for the East Indies . Nelson sailed for the East Indies on 19 November 1773, and arrived at the British outpost at Madras on 25 May 1774. Nelson and Seahorse spent the rest of
20460-521: The stonework were taken from the scene. Some of these relics, including Nelson's head, eventually found their way into museums; parts of the lettered stonework from the pedestal are displayed in the grounds of the Butler House hotel in Kilkenny , while smaller remnants were used to decorate private gardens. Contemporary and subsequent accounts record that the army's explosion caused more damage than
20625-595: The stump should be removed. A last-minute request by the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland for an injunction to delay the demolition on planning grounds was rejected by Justice Thomas Teevan . On 14 March the Army destroyed the stump by a controlled explosion, watched at a safe distance by a crowd who, the press reported, "raised a resounding cheer". There was a scramble for souvenirs, and many parts of
20790-529: The surrender of the Fortress of the Immaculate Conception and its 160 Spanish defenders after a two-week siege. Despite this initial success, the British forces never reached Lake Nicaragua and, decimated by yellow fever , were forced to return to Jamaica. The British destroyed the fortress when they evacuated in January 1781. The failed campaign cost the lives of more than 2,500 men, making it
20955-633: The survivors returned to Britain in October 1742. Blakeney was appointed lieutenant governor of Stirling Castle , an immensely strong position controlling access between the Scottish Highlands and the Lowlands . In September 1745, the Jacobite army passed the castle en route to Edinburgh , but lacked the equipment needed to take it. The Jacobites made a more serious attempt in the Siege of Stirling Castle in January 1746, but progress
21120-484: The temperance campaigner Father Mathew . Meanwhile, in 1861, after decades of construction, the Wellington Monument in Dublin's Phoenix Park was completed, the foundation stone having been laid in 1817. This vast obelisk, 220 feet (67 m) high and 120 feet (37 m) square at the base, honoured Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington , Dublin-born and a former Chief Secretary for Ireland . Unlike
21285-764: The time he arrived in Britain, in September. His patron, Suckling, had risen to the post of Comptroller of the Navy in 1775, and used his influence to help Nelson gain further promotion. Nelson was appointed acting lieutenant aboard HMS Worcester , which was about to sail to Gibraltar . Worcester , under the command of Captain Mark Robinson , sailed as a convoy escort on 3 December, and returned with another convoy in April 1777. Nelson then travelled to London to take his lieutenant's examination on 9 April; his examining board consisted of Captains John Campbell , Abraham North, and his uncle, Suckling. Nelson passed
21450-583: The title became extinct on his death. William Blakeney was born on 7 September 1672, eldest child of William (1640–1718), and Elizabeth Blakeney (1652–1710). His siblings included Robert (died 1763), Charles (1674–1741), John (1696–1720), Mary (born c. 1678 ), Catherine (born 1680) and Elizabeth (died 1740). William Blakeney owned estates at Castleblakeney, in County Galway , and Mount Blakeney, in County Limerick . The family supplied
21615-501: The top of the Irish charts for eight weeks. An American newspaper reported that the mood in the city was one of gaiety, with shouts of "Nelson has lost his last battle!" Some accounts relate that the Irish president , Éamon de Valera , phoned The Irish Press to suggest the headline: "British Admiral Leaves Dublin By Air". The Pillar's fate was sealed when Dublin Corporation issued a "dangerous building" notice. The trustees agreed that
21780-421: The town. On 11 April, the British squadron entered the harbour and opened fire, while Nelson took command of the land forces and commenced bombardment. After 45 days, the town surrendered. Nelson then prepared for an assault on Calvi , working in company with Lieutenant-General Charles Stuart . British forces landed at Calvi on 19 June, and immediately began moving guns ashore to occupy the heights surrounding
21945-448: The town. While Nelson directed a continuous bombardment of the enemy positions, Stuart's men began to advance. On the morning of 12 July, Nelson was at one of the forward batteries when a shot struck one of the nearby sandbags protecting the position, spraying stones and sand. Nelson was struck by debris in his right eye and forced to retire from the position. However, his wound was soon bandaged and he returned to action. By 18 July, most of
22110-413: The trust created at the Pillar's inception, the terms of which gave the trustees a duty in perpetuity to preserve the monument. Successive Irish governments failed to enact legislation overriding the trust. Although influential literary figures such as W. B. Yeats and Oliver St. John Gogarty defended the Pillar on historical and cultural grounds, pressure for its removal intensified in the years preceding
22275-425: The two fleets shadowed each other on 12 March. The following day, two of the French ships collided, allowing Nelson to engage the much larger, 84-gun Ça Ira . This engagement went on for two and a half hours, until the arrival of two French ships forced Nelson to veer away, having inflicted heavy casualties and considerable damage. The fleets continued to shadow each other before making contact again on 14 March in
22440-560: The various schemes to remove the monument and concludes "Let him watch the sky/ With those who rule. Stone eye/ And telescopes can prove/ Our blessings are above". Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronte (29 September [ O.S. 18 September] 1758 – 21 October 1805) was a British flag officer in the Royal Navy . His inspirational leadership, grasp of strategy and unconventional tactics brought about
22605-482: The vessel. Shortly after reporting aboard, Nelson was appointed a midshipman , and began officer training. Early in his service, Nelson discovered that he experienced seasickness , a chronic complaint that he experienced for the rest of his life. Raisonnable had been commissioned during a period of tension with Spain, but when this passed, Suckling was transferred to the Nore guardship HMS Triumph and Nelson
22770-409: The wildlife and in particular a bird—now believed to be the white-necked jacobin . Locker, impressed by Nelson's abilities, recommended him to the new commander-in-chief at Jamaica , Sir Peter Parker . Parker duly took Nelson onto his flagship, HMS Bristol . The entry of the French into the war, in support of the Americans, meant further targets for Parker's fleet. It took many prizes towards
22935-503: The withdrawing army and prevent them from being surrounded, but he had too few ships and men to materially alter the strategic situation. The British were forced to withdraw from the Italian ports. Nelson returned to Corsica on 30 November, angry and depressed with the British failure, and questioning his future in the navy. In January 1796, the position of commander-in-chief of the fleet in the Mediterranean passed to Sir John Jervis , who appointed Nelson to exercise independent command over
23100-456: The writer William Makepeace Thackeray noted Nelson "upon a stone-pillar" in the middle of the "exceedingly broad and handsome" Sackville Street: "The Post Office is on his right hand (only it is cut off); and on his left, 'Gresham's' and the 'Imperial Hotel' ". A few years later, the monument was a source of pride to some citizens, who dubbed it "Dublin's Glory" when Queen Victoria visited the city in 1849. Between 1840 and 1843 Nelson's Column
23265-423: The writer Peter De Rosa's account: "On his pillar, Nelson surveyed it all serenely, as though he were lit up by a thousand lamps". The statue was visible against the fiery backdrop from as far as Killiney , 9 miles (14 km) away. By Saturday, when the provisional government finally surrendered, many of the Sackville Street buildings between the Pillar and the Liffey had been destroyed or badly damaged, including
23430-545: The year cruising off the coast and escorting merchantmen . With the outbreak of the First Anglo-Maratha War , the British fleet operated in support of the East India Company and in early 1775, Seahorse was dispatched to carry a cargo of the company's money to Bombay . On 19 February, two of Hyder Ali 's ketches attacked Seahorse , which drove them off after a brief exchange of fire. This
23595-412: Was Nelson's first experience of battle. Nelson spent the rest of the year escorting convoys, during which he continued to develop his navigation and ship handling skills. In early 1776, he contracted malaria and became seriously ill. He was discharged from Seahorse on 14 March and returned to England aboard HMS Dolphin . Nelson spent the six-month voyage recuperating and had almost recovered by
23760-471: Was a British Army officer and politician who served from 1695 until 1756. From 1725 to 1757, he also sat in the Parliament of Ireland as MP for Kilmallock , although he rarely attended. A tough, reliable and courageous soldier, Blakeney was also known for his innovative approach to weapons drill and training. One of the few officers to bolster their reputation during the Jacobite rising of 1745 , he
23925-512: Was a good likeness of its subject, and that the Pillar's position in the centre of the wide street gave the eye a focal point in what was otherwise "wastes of pavements". By 1830, rising nationalist sentiment in Ireland made it likely that the Pillar was "the Ascendancy's last hurrah"—Kennedy observes that it probably could not have been built at any later date. Nevertheless, the monument often attracted favourable comment from visitors; in 1842
24090-403: Was a nephew of Robert Walpole , 1st Earl of Orford, (second creation) the de facto first prime minister of Great Britain . Nelson retained a strong Christian faith throughout his life. Nelson's uncle Maurice Suckling was a high-ranking naval officer, and is believed to have had a major impact on Nelson's life. Catherine Suckling lived in the village of Barsham, Suffolk , and married
24255-626: Was accorded a state funeral. Nelson's death at Trafalgar secured his position as one of Britain's most heroic figures. His signal just prior to the commencement of the battle, " England expects that every man will do his duty ", is regularly quoted and paraphrased. Numerous monuments, including Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square , London, and the Nelson Monument in Edinburgh , have been created in his memory. Horatio Nelson
24420-593: Was acquainted with, such as Hood—to provide him with a command. He was unsuccessful, as there were too few ships in the peacetime navy, and Hood did not intercede on his behalf. Nelson spent his time trying to find employment for former crew members, attending to family affairs, and cajoling contacts in the navy for a posting. In 1792, the French revolutionary government annexed the Austrian Netherlands (modern Belgium), which were traditionally preserved as
24585-567: Was born on 29 September [ O.S. 18 September] 1758, at a rectory in Burnham Thorpe , Norfolk , England; the sixth of eleven children of the Reverend Edmund Nelson and his wife, Catherine Suckling . He was named " Horatio " after his godfather Horatio Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford (third creation), (1723–1809), the first cousin of his maternal great-grandmother Anne Turner (1691–1768). Horatio Walpole
24750-433: Was built in 1759 in the location where the Nelson Pillar would eventually stand. The subject was William Blakeney, 1st Baron Blakeney , a Limerick -born army officer whose career extended over more than 60 years and ended with his surrender to the French after the siege of Minorca in 1756. A brass statue sculpted by John van Nost the younger was unveiled on St Patrick's Day , 17 March 1759. Donal Fallon, in his history of
24915-493: Was commissioned in the Guards for similar reasons. Blakeney's regiment escaped disbandment after the 1713 Peace of Utrecht ; when his uncle retired from the 31st Foot in 1718, he assigned his commission as lieutenant colonel to his nephew. Blakeney retained this position for the next 20 years; some biographers suggest he was deliberately held back, but promotion in this period was slow for all officers. He became colonel of
25080-610: Was dismissed for failing to provide reinforcements from the Gibraltar garrison, while Byng was executed in March 1757. The heavy drinking that left Blakeney with "a paralytick disorder" and "nervous tremors", was portrayed as the virtues of a simple soldier, but many considered his surrender premature. Although rewarded by being appointed to the Order of the Bath and made 'Baron Blakeney' in
25245-602: Was dispatched to serve aboard the West Indiaman Mary Ann of the merchant shipping firm of Hibbert, Purrier and Horton , in order to gain experience at sea. He sailed from Medway , Kent, on 25 July 1771, heading to Jamaica and Tobago, and returning to Plymouth on 7 July 1772. He twice crossed the Atlantic, before returning to serve under his uncle as the commander of Suckling's longboat, which carried men and dispatches, to and from shore. Nelson then learnt of
25410-531: Was erected in London's Trafalgar Square . With an overall height of 170 feet (52 m) it was taller than its Dublin equivalent and, at £47,000, much more costly to erect, despite the absence of an internal staircase or viewing platform. The London column was the subject of an attack during the Fenian dynamite campaign in May 1884, when a quantity of explosives was placed at its base but failed to detonate. In 1853
25575-605: Was for the classical form, typified by Trajan's Column in Rome. Monumental columns , or "pillars of victory", were uncommon in Ireland at the time; the Cumberland Column in Birr, County Offaly , erected in 1747, was a rare exception. From the entries submitted, the Nelson committee's choice was that of a young English architect, William Wilkins , then in the early stages of a distinguished career. Wilkins's proposals envisaged
25740-456: Was given command of a small squadron consisting of Agamemnon , three frigates, and a sloop, and ordered to blockade the French garrison on Corsica. The fall of Toulon at the end of December 1793 severely damaged British fortunes in the Mediterranean. Hood had failed to make adequate provisions for a withdrawal and 18 French ships-of-the-line fell into republican hands. Nelson's mission to Corsica took on an added significance, as it could provide
25905-493: Was important in the capture of Corsica , where he was wounded and partially lost sight in one eye, and subsequently performed diplomatic duties with the Italian states. In 1797, he distinguished himself while in command of HMS Captain at the Battle of Cape St Vincent . Shortly after that battle, Nelson took part in the Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife , where the attack failed and he lost his right arm, forcing him to return to England to recuperate. The following year he won
26070-616: Was liberally decorated with flags and streamers to mark the 1905 Trafalgar centenary. The changing political atmosphere had long been signalled by the arrival in Sackville Street of further monuments, all celebrating distinctively Irish heroes, in what the historian Yvonne Whelan describes as defiance of the British Government, a "challenge in stone". Between the 1860s and 1911, Nelson was joined by monuments to Daniel O'Connell (the O'Connell Monument ), William Smith O'Brien and Charles Stewart Parnell , as well as Sir John Gray and
26235-460: Was mainly directed at what they considered a distraction from the official 50th anniversary celebrations of the Rising. The absence of the pillar was regretted by some who felt the city had lost one of its most prominent landmarks. The Irish Literary Association was anxious that, whatever future steps were taken, the lettering on the pedestal should be preserved; the Irish Times reported that
26400-537: Was now advancing on Genoa, but could excite little interest in Hotham. In November, Hotham was replaced by Sir Hyde Parker , but the situation in Italy was rapidly deteriorating: the French were raiding around Genoa and strong Jacobin sentiment was rife within the city itself. A large French assault at the end of November, broke the allied lines, forcing a general retreat towards Genoa. Nelson's forces were able to cover
26565-444: Was rapidly becoming useless. In June, the Agamemnon was sent back to Britain for repairs, and Nelson was appointed to the 74-gun HMS Captain . In the same month, the French thrust towards Leghorn and were certain to capture the city. Nelson hurried there to oversee the evacuation of British nationals and transport them to Corsica. After which, Jervis ordered him to blockade the newly captured French port. In July, he oversaw
26730-629: Was rewarded by being appointed Lieutenant-Governor of the British-held island of Menorca in 1748. When the Seven Years' War began in April 1756, the French occupied most of the island, although Blakeney and the garrison of Fort St. Philip held out for 70 days. Admiral John Byng was later court-martialled and shot for failing to relieve him, but Blakeney was made a baron in recognition of his resolute defence. Now over eighty years old, this ended his military career, and he retired to his home in County Limerick , where he died in September 1761 and later buried in Westminster Abbey . He never married, and
26895-413: Was slow. Despite victory at Falkirk Muir on 1 February, the Jacobites lifted the siege and withdrew to Inverness when Prince William, Duke of Cumberland began advancing north from Edinburgh. After the Rising ended at Culloden in April 1746, Blakeney was promoted lieutenant general and given military command of the Highlands. In 1748, he was appointed lieutenant governor of Menorca ; captured by
27060-420: Was successful. Tyrawley's absence was symptomatic of general neglect; in 1757, a Parliamentary committee noted the poor state of its defences, with crumbling walls and rotten gun platforms. In addition to Tyrawley, over 35 senior officers were absent from their posts, including the governor of Fort St Philip, and the colonels of all four regiments in its garrison. When the Seven Years' War began in April 1756,
27225-409: Was taken into Navy service as Little Lucy . Nelson asked for, and was given, command of her, and took her on two cruises of his own. As well as giving him his first taste of command, it gave Nelson the opportunity to explore his fledgling interest in science. During his first cruise in command of Little Lucy , Nelson led an expeditionary party to the Caicos Islands, where he made detailed notes of
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