![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/0312018_ks_Women_Monument003-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/p>\nMonument honouring Kerry\u2019s revolutionary women<\/p>\n
A proposal that first originated in the Killarney Municipal District has culminated in the unveiling of Ireland\u2019s first monument dedicated to the women of the 1912\u20131923 revolutionary period.<\/p>\n
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The project was brought forward by Killarney councillor Marie Moloney and backed by fellow Killarney representative Maura Healy-Rae.
The initiative gained momentum and full support in the main Kerry County Council chamber from all elected female councillors \u2013 adding Norma Moriarty, Aoife Thornton and Deirdre Ferris \u2013 leading to the commissioning of the historic memorial.
Titled Spiorad B\u00e1n Chiarra\u00ed or Spirit of the Kerry Women, the 2.5-metre bronze sculpture was officially unveiled in Tralee Town Park. Created by Dublin-based sculptor Elizabeth O\u2019Kane, the artwork depicts a woman in period uniform marching forward while raising the Irish flag. To maintain historical accuracy, O\u2019Kane referenced original uniforms from Cumann na mBan and Cumann na Saoirse.
\u201cThe sculpture was a year and a half in the making, from sculpting the larger-than-life-size clay figure in my studio, to the many months of highly skilled bronze casting carried out in a Dublin foundry,\u201d said Ms O\u2019Kane.
\u201cFrom start to finish, it has been a labour of love \u2013 artists often claim to suffer for their work, but I have the X-ray to prove it! A fractured wrist in the middle of the project was extremely untimely, but I am immensely proud of the final result. It has been a privilege to commemorate the women of this period with a sculpture that celebrates their courage, sacrifice, and enduring legacy.\u201d
The project was funded through the Department of Housing and Local Government under the Percent for Arts Scheme. The memorial stands as a permanent tribute to the vital social, political, and military roles Kerry women played in shaping modern Ireland.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Monument honouring Kerry\u2019s revolutionary women A proposal that first originated in the Killarney Municipal District has culminated in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":577721,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43],"class_list":["post-577720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/577720","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=577720"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/577720\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/577721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=577720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=577720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=577720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}