Nelson's Pillar - History

History

The Lord Mayor of Dublin, James Vance, is credited with first coming up with the idea of honouring Lord Nelson and the Battle of Trafalgar with a monument, in 1805. After consulting the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and the Duke of Richmond, he organised a meeting of leading citizens. A committee of 21 was duly appointed containing, as well as the Lord Mayor, John La Touche MP, Robert Shaw MP, Hans Hamilton MP, Arthur Guinness Jr and the Chief Secretary for Ireland, Charles Long. A subscription was opened with the banks leading the way in forwarding funds. However, it took over two years for the finances to get close to the projected budget of over £5,000. The committee decided to start the project with what money they had, and succeeded in raising the rest of the money on time.

The original plans for the Pillar were submitted to the organising committee by William Wilkins (1778–1839), a London architect, Fellow of Caius College, Cambridge, and accepted by them in 1808. However, for some reason, the committee wrote later that they were incapable of "executing his design precisely as he had given it." Francis Johnston (1760–1829), the architect who built the General Post Office (to the left in the picture above) was brought in to execute the design, and "afforded the necessary assistance with his acknowledged ability, which...he did with the utmost cheerfulness." He made several drawings of his own, one of which met the approval of the committee sufficiently for construction to start. Johnston and later architects laid out Sackville Street (now O'Connell Street) so that the buildings, the GPO, and the Pillar were in scale to the size and length of the street and to each other.

Construction of the Pillar was started with the laying of the foundation stone on 15 February 1808. It was inaugurated with a procession of dignitaries including the Fellows and Provost of Trinity College and the Lord Lieutenant and his wife. "The windows of all the houses in the vicinity were crowded with spectators, and it was remarked that red was the favourite colour worn by most of the ladies present. It was considered that the city had probably never before seen a grander or more impressive cavalcade, and Mr. Betham, the Marshal, was complimented on the management and good order that prevailed. It was likewise a matter of congratulation that notwithstanding the great crowds, not the slightest accident occurred." The pillar itself was completed "by August 1809" and the statue of Nelson was hoisted into place.

The memorial plaque read:

By the blessing of Almighty God

To Commemorate the Transcendent Heroic

Achievements of the Right Honourable

Horatio Lord Viscount Nelson

Duke of Bronti in Sicily,

Vice-Admiral of the White Squadron of his Majesty's Fleet,

Who fell gloriously in the Battle of Cape Trafalgar

On the 21st Day of October, 1805, when

he obtained for his Country a Victory

over the Combined Fleets of France and

Spain, Unparalleled in Naval History.

This first stone of a Triumphal Pillar was

laid by His Grace,

Charles Duke of Richmond and Lennox

Notably, the Pillar was finished long before the similar Nelson's Column was erected in Trafalgar Square in London in 1849. The pillar became both a tram terminus and a common meeting place for Dubliners and offered the city's best public viewing platform, reached by a spiral stairway inside the column. The original entrance to the pillar was underground but, G. P. Baxter designed a porch in 1894 which was added to allow direct access from the street. The adult public paid sixpence (children under 12 were half-price) to climb the 168 spiral steps to a platform which gave a bird's-eye view of the city.