Finglas Remembers
A hero with nowhere to stand
The statue is finished. The people of Finglas paid for it. All we ask is to let it stand in Kildonan Park. Stand with us. LMMC8-2016@outlook.com
“We in the Finglas community raised every penny ourselves. We engaged Brendan Walshe as our Artist, who has since passed away. And now the Council is telling us to find our own location for Kevin.”
Martin Deegan, Chairperson, LMMC
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Our aim
We want to see a permanent statue of Kevin Barry stand proudly in Kildonan Park, here in Finglas. The statue is finished. It was paid for by local people. It was made by a local artist. All we are asking is to be allowed to place it where it belongs, in the heart of the community that has carried Kevin Barry's name for over sixty years.
Who was Kevin Barry
Kevin Barry was born in 1902 in Rathvilly, County Carlow, and was just eighteen years old when he was hanged by the British on the 1st of November 1920. He was the first person to be executed under British rule in Ireland since the leaders of the 1916 Rising, and his death sent shockwaves through the country and far beyond it. He was a member of the Irish Volunteers, inspired by the Rising to take up the cause of Irish freedom. He was a student at University College Dublin who had won a Dublin Corporation scholarship to study medicine, and he played hurling for Belvedere. His story has lived on ever since in the famous song that carries his name.
Why Kildonan Park
Finglas North West has a special bond with Kevin Barry. More than sixty years ago, Dublin Corporation named five streets beside Kildonan Park after him: Barry Road, Barry Avenue, Barry Park, Barry Green and Barry Drive. In more recent times Barry Close was added, along with the Rathvilly area in Finglas South, named for the village where he was born. Generations have grown up on those streets and raised their own children there. Placing his statue in Kildonan Park, facing down Barry Road, simply finishes what the city itself started all those years ago.
How it all began
It began in 2020, the centenary year of Kevin Barry's execution. Local residents came to the committee and asked us to consider a memorial. We agreed to take it on, but only on one firm condition, that the community itself be asked and give its consent. The proposal was first put forward to the Sculpture Dublin Project in 2020, to support the upgrade of Kildonan Park.
A community effort
This has been the work of local people from day one. During a global pandemic, our volunteers went door to door across 1,134 households and asked their neighbours a simple question. Eighty four per cent said yes. The sixteen per cent who did not answer were not against the statue. Many were simply afraid to answer their doors during Covid. Every penny was raised by local people and local businesses. The statue itself is a two metre high composite work depicting a young Kevin Barry coming home from the playing field with his wolfhound, Cu. It was sculpted by Brendan Walshe of Celbridge, County Kildare, who has since sadly passed away, which makes his work all the more precious to us. It was cast by Art Foundry Cast Ltd. in Dublin, with a Wicklow granite column by Ryanstone of Blessington. Kevin Barry's own family stand behind this project. His grandniece, Niamh Barry, recorded her support on camera. The whole journey was filmed for a four part documentary series, now on YouTube, showing the founding of the committee in 2020, the fundraising through the pandemic, Brendan Walshe at work in his forge, community screenings in Finglas Village, and conversations with the musician Derek Warfield, members of Erin's Isle GAA, and traditional musicians Deirdre Ni Bhuachalla and Mick Cantwell.
The wall we keep hitting
Here is the part that has been hardest. Even with all of this behind us, getting the green light from Dublin City Council has been slow and deeply frustrating. Back in 2020, we believe Sculpture Dublin set aside the clear wishes of the community and instead placed a contemporary steel piece titled Finglas Ravens Soar, by the artist Sara Cunningham Bell, in the very spot the community had chosen, at a cost of around 109,000 euro of public money. It is fair to ask why the Council's arts office chose to begin a community art project seven months into a worldwide pandemic. Our answer at the time was simple. If the Council could run a public art project during Covid, then public consent could be sought during Covid too, and that is exactly what we did, door to door. There is also a difference between general public consultation and the consent of a local community. An email address is no proof of address or residency. Our mandate came from signed consent gathered in person across 1,134 households. In October 2025, the Dublin City Council Commemorative Naming Committee reviewed our formal offer to donate the finished statue to the city. In February 2026, the Committee Chairperson, Councillor Donna Cooney, told Deputy Dessie Ellis TD that the work did not meet the Council's criteria because it had not gone through an open competition, and the community was advised to find private property for the statue instead. We raised every penny ourselves. We commissioned a local artist who has since passed away. And now the Council is telling us to go and find a private plot of our own. That is not acceptable. The Council's own policy allows works that are already made to be accepted in exceptional circumstances, and we believe this project meets that test many times over. We have also pointed to the Luke Kelly statue on South King Street, which was privately commissioned and later donated to the Council, and to Clare County Council, which removed a piece of public art, the Puca, when it became clear local people had not consented to it. On the 24th of March 2026, Councillor Gavin Pepper moved to call a motion to have the Kevin Barry statue placed in Kildonan Park, so that the matter could at least be heard.
The story so far
• 2020 - The committee is founded on the centenary of Kevin Barry's execution. The proposal goes to the Sculpture Dublin Project, and the community consent canvass gathers eighty four per cent support across 1,134 homes. • 2020 to 2024 - The community raises every penny itself through the pandemic. The statue is commissioned and brought to life in Brendan Walshe's forge, the four part documentary is filmed, and community screenings are held in Finglas Village. • October 2025 - The Dublin City Council Commemorative Naming Committee reviews our offer to donate the statue to the city. • February 2026 - Councillor Donna Cooney tells Deputy Dessie Ellis TD the work does not meet the criteria, and the community is told to find a private site. • 12th March 2026 - The committee issues its press release telling the public what has happened. • 24th March 2026 - Councillor Gavin Pepper moves to call a motion to place the statue in Kildonan Park. • June 2026 - The statue stands finished and ready, still waiting for its rightful place in the park.
Where we stand today
As of June 2026, the statue is complete and ready to go. The community has done everything that was asked of it, and a great deal more besides. The only thing standing between Kevin Barry and his place in Kildonan Park is the Council's decision. We are still waiting, and we are not going away.
What we are asking
We are asking Dublin City Council to convene a formal exceptional circumstances review through the Public Arts Officer, and to sit down with the community to resolve this. We are asking the Council to support a motion at a full sitting of Dublin City Council, as Deputy Dessie Ellis TD and Councillor Gavin Pepper have moved to do, to accept the community's gift and place the statue in Kildonan Park. We are asking our Dail Deputies for Dublin North West, Paul McAuliffe TD, Dessie Ellis TD and Rory Hearne TD, and all our elected councillors, to stand with the community that elected them and to defend local democracy and the will of the people. And we are asking you, our neighbours and friends, to follow the campaign, share the story far and wide, and let your local representatives know that this matters to you.
Stand with us
Watch the full story in our four part documentary on YouTube at youtube.com/@kevinbarrymemorialcommittee. Visit our website at www.LMMC.ie. Our TikTok, Facebook and Instagram pages are launching alongside this campaign, so please follow along and share. Get in touch with the committee: Martin Deegan, Chairperson, LMMC8-2016@outlook.com. Thank you for taking the time to read our story.
Finglas Remembers
Bring Kevin Home to Barry
Bringing Kevin Barry home means honouring our heritage. LMMC8-2016@outlook.com