A hungry feeling
Came o'er me stealing
And the mice were squealing
In my prison cell
And that auld triangle went jingle-jangle
All along the banks of the Royal Canal!
So wrote Brendan Behan who grew up just minutes away on
Russell street from where this bronze statue of him unveiled in 2003 now stands. Mountjoy Prison which looms menacingly in the near distance, does indeed stand on the banks of this canal. It's where the 19year old Brendan served part of what was to be a 4-year term for taking a potshot at 2 detectives at an Easter rising commemoration in Glasnevin. Indeed 'The Auld Triangle', itself which featured in his most well known play 'The Quare Fellow', features here in the form of 4 small interlocking triangles on the bronze bench that the life size Brendan figure sits upon. It's a nice, quirky piece of work with a lot of the wit & humour of the man reflected in it. His head is turned attentatively to a bird perched on the end of the bench.
The work of a sculptor called John Coll, it's almost a reaction to the similar & more well known statue of one-time friend & later bitter rival Patrick Kavanagh, that stands on the traditionally more refined surroundings of the Grand Canal to the south of the Liffey. Brendan was fiercely proud of being a northside Dub.
I was told that that the statue, which is next to a lock gate, just by the point where lower Dorset street crosses over the canal, is a favourite hangout for alcoholic down & outs. Well I was the only one there the day I went!
Brendan was a true larger than life character, but he was also down to earth and he certainly belongs more here than in one of the more touristy parts of the city.
I always find it difficult to come to terms with something as reverent as a statue commemorating heroes of mine who are to a fault gloriously irreverent!
One of my favourite & well known of Brendan's quotes is:
"I have a total irreverence for anything connected with society except that which makes the roads safer, the beer stronger, the food cheaper and the old men and old women warmer in the winter and happier in the summer."
But it's a suitably characterful piece of work, it doesn't really match the image I have of him. Though the hairs good.
My favourite photo is of him with quizzical glare, and crooked mouth, chin jutting out determinedly whilst sat next to a sleeping drunk. Of course sleeping drunks can still sit next to him, and for someone like myself whose long had a great love of all things Brendan it's a must to make your way along Dorset street to see & experience his environment as it is today. read more