But he needs your help to finish it
13:24, 20 Jan 2026Updated 13:24, 20 Jan 2026
A close-up of Luke’s face – you’d nearly swear it was Mark Hamill in carbonite(Image: )
Ireland has no shortage of Star Wars fans – but maybe nobody loves the franchise as much as this very talented artist, who’s making a life-sized Luke Skywalker statue for the home of the ‘May the 4th’ festival.
It’s a major project – but Dublin man David O’Brien has already done the hard part. He has shared plenty of snaps showing off the impressive 5″7 cast of Mark Hamill, depicting his character as seen in the Disney sequel films The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi. In fact, the statue’s so good, you’d swear he just dipped the famous actor in carbonite and called it a day. It has it all, from Luke’s robotic right arm to the movie-accurate belt and satchel – showing the type of detail only a die-hard fan would be able to recreate.
But it’s no surprise, as David is a veteran statue-maker who works as the Managing Director of the Bronze Art Fine Art Foundry. His group has years of experience producing top-class work, much of which is already on proud display at prominent sites across Ireland. Some of their projects include, but are not limited to, a life-size bust of former president Michael D Higgins, which was unveiled at Áras an Uachtarán on his last day of office.
The Luke Skywalker statue(Image: )
They also made headlines with their sculpture of music legend Rory Gallagher, which was installed at Ulster Hall in January 2025 to mark the 30th anniversary of his passing. But as good as David is – he won’t be able to finish his Luke Skywalker statue without a helping hand. He has launched a GoFundMe campaign looking for support for his pet project, in the hopes of getting the artpiece installed at Portmagee village in Co. Kerry. This scenic spot in Ireland is home to the popular ‘May the 4th’ Star Wars festival – named for the franchise’s well-known saying “May the Force be with you.”
Of course, this isn’t Kerry’s only link to Star Wars. Snippets of the sequel films were also shot on the county’s scenic Skellig Michael Island – as well as in West Cork and parts of Donegal – to make up the fictional planet Ahch-To, where new protagonist Rey found Luke Skywalker in hiding.
David is looking for €150k to make this project happen – the vast majority of which will go towards casting the sculpture and finishing it in bronze. The campaign is still a long way from target at time of writing, but who knows – with any luck, Mark Hamill himself may catch wind of the project and fund it all himself. And that might be more likely than you’d think, as David and the Star Wars legend have actually met once before.
In the GoFundMe campaign’s description, the sculptor said he once got the chance to meet his favourite actor at an American Ambassador’s residence in Phoenix Park in 2018. David was also lucky enough to get an opportunity to show him a smaller bust he had made of Luke Skywalker – which he said Mark was “blown away by” – and he later shipped it to the actor in the US.
David says that he has been assured that planning permission to install the statue “will not be an issue” and that the community in Portmagee is behind the project. If you’d like to donate to support David – or maybe send the campaign to Mark Hamill to try get his attention – you can find it online here.
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