Robert Boyle O'Reilly Memorial - Boston, MA
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NorStar
N 42° 20.779 W 071° 05.446
19T E 327786 N 4690345
This memorial to John Boyle O'Reilly on the edge of the Fenway depicts a bust of O'Reilly on the side facing the intersection, and personifications of Patriotism, Erin (Ireland), and Poetry on the side facing the park.
Waymark Code: WM8FV2
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 03/27/2010
Views: 7
In Boston, on the edge of the Fenway, stands a stone and bronze memorial to the poet and protester, John Boyle O'Reilly. The memorial is at the intersection the road Fenway and Boylston Street.
It has two sides to it. On the side facing the intersection is the bust of John Boyle O'Reilly. Below the bust is the inscription in stone:
"John Boyle O'Reilly
1844-1890
Poet Patriot
Orator"
Behind the bust, in the stone, are intricate intertwining designs.
On the side facing the park are three full figures in bronze, representing Patriotism, Erin (the representation of Ireland), and Poetry. Behind them, intricate designs carved in the stone suggest a cross. Below them is the inscription in bronze:
"Poetry and Patriotism give of their laurel and oak from which Erin weaves a wreath for her heroes."
On the park side of the memorial is a stone semicircular bench.
The statue was made by Daniel Chester French in 1896 and placed in the Back Bay Fens.
O'Reilly was born in Ireland in 1844. He was a poet and the editor of 'The Pilot'. He is largely seen as an important person in assimilating the Irish Catholic people into the the Anglo-Saxon Protestant culture in Boston.
Website with background information about this Waymark: [Web Link]
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