In song, and then in bronze, she has become an emblem of Irish culture and an enduring symbol of working-class Dublin. But to the familiar folklore of Molly Malone represented in her statue on Suffolk Street in central Dublin - a pretty young face, a hawker's cart of cockles and mussels, a low-cut frilly dress - a new element will soon be added: wardens, provided by Dublin City Council.
The life-size statue was erected to commemorate the central figure of "Molly Malone" or "Cockles and Mussels," a song belted out during St Patrick's Day celebrations. The city council said it was responding to complaints about people touching the statue. More specifically, the problem is with visitors grabbing and rubbing the statue's breasts, supposedly for luck - something they do so often that its bust has become discoloured.
The stewards will be positioned for a week in May, and will also try to educate tourists about the statue. The counsil is responding in part to a "Leave Molly mAlone" campaign led by Tilly Cripwell, a student at Trinity College Dublin, a regular busker on Suffolk Street. She welcomed the restoration work, but was less impressed by the idea of wardens. "The stewarding system feels like a figurative barrier, which defeats the point, and the point is mind-set reform around behavior toward the statue."
People coming to see Malone help make Suffolk Street a lucrative busking spot. Singing there, Cripwell said, she could collect at least 60 euros an hour. But she grew infuriated at seeing tourists and nighttime drinkers grope the statue. While touching parts of statues for luck is a widespread tradition, treatment of one of Dublin's few statues of women struck Cripwell as crude and sexist.
To protest, Cripwell has used an alternative version of the popular folk song. In the song, Malone is a fishmonger who sells her wares on Dublin's streets and eventually dies of a fever. People have long debated whether the song is based on a real person. The design of the statue, and the publicity surrounding it, may have encouraged undignified treatment, said Sean Murphy, a historian, adding the sculpture represented Malone as "a prosperous trader who freelanced as a prostitute." Cripwell is seeking to give the disputed history a new chapter. Her campaign has sought to have the statue placed on a raised plinth, although the city's statement dismissed that option as "costly." And in place of stewards explaining the statue, Cripwell says she would prefer a plaque. "People don't know the story - whether it's fictional, whether it's real, they don't know it," she said.
The life-size statue was erected to commemorate the central figure of "Molly Malone" or "Cockles and Mussels," a song belted out during St Patrick's Day celebrations. The city council said it was responding to complaints about people touching the statue. More specifically, the problem is with visitors grabbing and rubbing the statue's breasts, supposedly for luck - something they do so often that its bust has become discoloured.
The stewards will be positioned for a week in May, and will also try to educate tourists about the statue. The counsil is responding in part to a "Leave Molly mAlone" campaign led by Tilly Cripwell, a student at Trinity College Dublin, a regular busker on Suffolk Street. She welcomed the restoration work, but was less impressed by the idea of wardens. "The stewarding system feels like a figurative barrier, which defeats the point, and the point is mind-set reform around behavior toward the statue."
People coming to see Malone help make Suffolk Street a lucrative busking spot. Singing there, Cripwell said, she could collect at least 60 euros an hour. But she grew infuriated at seeing tourists and nighttime drinkers grope the statue. While touching parts of statues for luck is a widespread tradition, treatment of one of Dublin's few statues of women struck Cripwell as crude and sexist.
To protest, Cripwell has used an alternative version of the popular folk song. In the song, Malone is a fishmonger who sells her wares on Dublin's streets and eventually dies of a fever. People have long debated whether the song is based on a real person. The design of the statue, and the publicity surrounding it, may have encouraged undignified treatment, said Sean Murphy, a historian, adding the sculpture represented Malone as "a prosperous trader who freelanced as a prostitute." Cripwell is seeking to give the disputed history a new chapter. Her campaign has sought to have the statue placed on a raised plinth, although the city's statement dismissed that option as "costly." And in place of stewards explaining the statue, Cripwell says she would prefer a plaque. "People don't know the story - whether it's fictional, whether it's real, they don't know it," she said.
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