23 July 2025
Dublin’s Molly Malone Statue is Being Rubbed Up the Wrong Way
Poor old
Molly Malone. When Kuriositas first
reported on her (in our 2013 article Statues of Dublin and their Notorious Nicknames),
the photos we were able to source at the time showed her untouched and
unsullied. Apparently, shortly after, a tourist guide was “inspired” to tell people
that rubbing her breasts would bring good luck.
As her more than ample bosom is well within groping distance, the sticky
paws of countless tourists rubbed and rubbed and rubbed away at the carbonate patina
which had given her an added aesthetic beauty and the sense of age (even though
the statue only dates from 1988). Now,
instead of saying “look at the breasts on that statue”, people are much more
likely to say “look at the statue on those breasts”.
Joking
aside, Dublin City Council are now considering moving the statue if tourists do
not desist from putting their grubby mitts on Molly’s tits. Sorryfor the informal language, I couldn’t
resist that little rhyme – but you could imagine the real Molly
paraphrasing those words as a retort if she was still around. I’m fairly sure she wouldn’t have any unwanted
hands on her mammary glands. On a
serious note, the patina on bronze statues, as well as adding to the overall
aesthetic, can also help protect the metal underneath from further
corrosion. In fact if you look closely,
you can see that the erosion
is becoming a problem.
Repeated
rubbing can permanently stain or alter bronze, especially in outdoor
conditions. It's a mix of chemical staining and mechanical wear. It isn’t a case of just leaving it for a
patina to occur naturally again – the statue will need extensive and
expensive (just can’t stop rhyming today) restoration work in order for Molly’s
bits to once again resemble the rest of the piece.
Perhaps Dublin
City Council should just accept that this is going to happen, and it happens to
statues across the globe. Poor old VictorNoir, interred in the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris has had close to 150
years of people rubbing his trouser bulge. Below is the report on the Molly
Malone statue by the Irish public service broadcaster RTE.
