News

St Brendan is still fully armed

May 9th, 2015 7:10 AM

By Southern Star Team

Where's the ‘arm in that: St Brendan is ready for repair.

Share this article

Reports of St Brendan's demise have been greatly exaggerated.

BY SIOBHAN CRONIN

REPORTS of St Brendan’s demise have been greatly exaggerated.

The statue of the great navigator, looking out to Bantry Bay, was removed from its plinth recently, to facilitate restoration work.

However, when spotted by eagled-eyed passers-by, the statue, on a removal truck, was sporting just one of its famous arms.

This led locals to jump to the conclusion that the statue had been ‘damaged’ during the complicated process to remove it from its pedestal.

But a spokesperson for Cork County Council was able to set the record straight this week.

The spokesperson said the removal of the statue and transportation to the National Sculpture Factory in Cork was ‘supervised by the sculptor carrying out the restoration. The statue was not damaged.’

The statement added: ‘However, it was not possible to transport the statue in an upright position, and one arm had to be removed to permit transport in a horizontal position.’

Share this article