h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The two old ladies with their shopping by the Ha'penny Bridge are known locally as the 'Hags with the Bags'.

Molly Malone, top of Grafton St, is the 'Tart with the Cart'

James Joyce is the 'Prick with the Stick'

There's also some woman who founded something charitable (I don't know her name, who's known as the 'Floozy in the Jacuzzi'

And not forgetting, of course, the millenium countdown clock in the Liffey (now sadly unreadable) - the 'Time in the Slime'

There are many more, but I can't remember all of them

--
Talith

The woman in the fountain is Anna Livia, the spirit of the River Liffey.

The Millennium Countdown clock was removed long before either of the two millenniums arrived.

I deliberately didn't provide these nicknames for the statues as the main purpose of them is to denigrate the city and its attractions, something I have tried not to do.

Gnomon

Gnoman, pet, perhaps in sandyford you think these nicknames are "denigrating" the city but I too am a dubliner, and I can assure you, having been involved in many inner city projects,arts schemes and also with a large tourisat element to my professional business the'floozie' or 'tart' or 'hags' are affectionate titles, part of what is rightly famous as Dublin wit. As for not wishing to denigrate the city you might like to rewrite your first paragraph then...Dublin dirty? well, I've lived in London, liverpool and manchester and glasgow and I assure you they are all far worse. I lived and worked in Amsterdam and there are parts of that city that are horrendous..I lived in Berlin, west and east before the wall came down and west berlin was horrendous(east was fabulous actually, in aesthetic terms). I have seen the regeneration of areas in this city that ten years ago were written off and I can assure you that it is something to be proud of albeit a slow process. Do we talk about property prices? well I reckon that depends on whether you're a boring fart or not.....you did a good historical 'tour' of Dublin, but it is sad to see a dubliner so ambiguous towards their own city.

I am indeed proud of my city but can't deny that it is dirty. I make no comparisons with other cities. (Having seen Cairo, I would have to say that Dublin is pristine and spotless).

Since we are discussing statue names, no-one has mentioned the Fag on the Crag (Oscar Wilde) yet!

I've always found them to be affectionate names myself, mostly used by proud Dubs showing their city off to people. It's just one other thing that adds character to a place

You missed the Book of Kells as a tourist attraction too - great exhibition, one of the best I've seen, especially the old library upstairs (on the way out).

'Fag with the Crag'

--
Talith

The Book of Kells is there in the article. You weren't paying attention!

DOH!

That'll teach me

--
Talith the repentant

Dont forget the Millenium Spire. The names doing the rounds at the moment

The Spike (The most popular)
The stilletto in the Ghetto
The Stiffy by the Liffey
The Erection at the Intersection.

Don't know of any more

The Spire in the Mire

The "rod to God" was the one I liked best on a recent trip...

I thought its proper title was the Monument of Light and was also called 'the skewer by the sewer' and 'the stiletto in the ghetto' (according to Lonely Planet - not too complimentary to Dublin) or 'Bertie's Pole', which I liked.

I also heard Oscar Wilde's statue called 'the queer in the square', pronounced as 'the quare...'.

HKP's

Definitely not the Monument of Light.

Definitely not? I have to disagree with you there.

My original source was the Lonely Planet guide to Ireland (published Jan 04), which refers to it twice by this name, as its official name.

A little Googling revealed quite a few hits on this title and a little history on http://www.rte.ie/news/2002/1218/spike.html, where it's stated,

"Despite its original appellation as 'The Monument of Light', Dublin City Council now says the structure is officially to be called 'The Spire of Dublin'."

So my trusted LPG is a little out of date on the official title, but it's still a valid name for it.

Still, what's in a name?

I have to say that I rather liked it, together with the rest of Dublin that I saw during my visit last September. Apart from relatively poor road signage, that is. I'm glad I have a sense of direction to help me navigate around and out of such places!

HKP's

The City Council has introduced an elaborate system of road signs recently which nobody understands.

My favourite "alternative" statue name has always been The Tomb of the Unknown Gurrier, which was bestowed on the Bowl of Light at Bachelors' Walk/O'Connell Bridge in the 1950s. It was originally set up to mark An Tostal - the first State-sponsored cultural festival, apparently intended to lure our cultural exiles back to the Auld Sod - a pretty dismal failure! It lasted about a fortnight before being chucked in the Liffey by some students on grounds of taste. I have read variously that its alternative name (the first such? It certainly predates the Floozie, the Tart, the Hags and the Stiletto) was coined by Flann O'Brien and Jimmy O'Dea; each is plausible.

Of course, now someone will have to do an article on the etymology and significance of the word "gurrier".......!!!

......(to say nothing of Flann/Myles and Jimmy)!

The Fusiliers' Monument (the archway on the corner of Stephen's Green) was known for a long time as "Traitors' Gate". I think that might be the oldest nickname of any dublin monumnet.

Azara