Madonna

St Mary’s Church Westport

The beautiful bronze ‘Madonna’ which graces the facade of St. Mary’s church was sculpted by Gabriel Hayes O’Ríordáin, a renowned Irish artist (1909 - 1978).

Other famous sculptures of hers decorate public buildings in Dublin - the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht in Kildare Street and also the D.I.T. in Cathal Brugha Street (‘The Three Graces’).

In her work on the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht (1935), Hayes collaborated with architect J.R.E. Boyd Barrett (Cork) who, in later years, would be  commissioned to design the facade of St.Mary’s church, Westport (1961). The two happily collaborated once more.

Gabriel Hayes O’Ríordáin is remembered for her designs on the the first decimal coinage used in Ireland (1971). She designed the mythical birds on the half-penny, penny (1p) and two-penny coins (2p) and very much enjoyed the fact that her works of art were carried around by so many in their purses and pockets.

She considered her ‘life’s work’ to be the life-size ‘Stations of the Cross’ which adorn the walls of Galway Cathedral. She began work on the ‘Stations’ in 1958 and completed them, some 18 years later in 1976, two years before her death. A magnum opus indeed.

Her final sculpture (1977), for which she won the Oireactas exhibition award for sculpture was a head, in walnut, of Grainne Mhaol, looking out to sea. This is held in a private collection.