Sweet Molly Malone

In Dublin’s fair city, where girls are so pretty… One of the most popular statues in Dublin has been Molly Malone’s likeness, which used to stand at the bottom of Grafton Street, the major shopping street in Dublin.  Dubliners variously refer to her at the Tart wi’ the Cart, the Trollop wi’ the Scallop, or the Dish wi’ the Fish, as selling cockles and mussels in the daytime had no bearing on her evening profession.  

In years past, it was almost impossible to get a daytime picture of the statue, as it was forever blocked by two large (better than 6 feet tall) costumed happy leprechauns, sized for entertaining a stadium rather than close-up encounters, who expected money for pictures or for posing with tourists. It’s a living, I suppose, not unlike the superheroes on Hollywood Boulevard that are featured on Jimmy kimmel from time to time.  

Dublin is in the process of expanding it’s light rail in the city, however, and the new line will run past Grafton Street, so Molly has been moved down the block, at least for a couple of years, and doesn’t get the tourist traffic so much any more.  So now it’s easy to see and photograh her if you’re willing to walk a block or so, but she is no longer visible from the hop-on, hop-off bus

   Molly isn’t the only such statue in Dublin, and others include James Joyce up on O’Connell Street and Oscar Wilde, and numerous figures from Ireland’s History, but Molly has a certain mammalian appeal.