P.H Pearse, one of the signatories of the 1916 proclamation, executed for his role in the rebellion.

The afterlife of the Nelson Pillar on O’Connell Street is every bit as interesting as its lifespan, and from the late 1960s onwards various committees and campaign groups lobbied with the aim of placing a monument in the location where Nelson had stood. One reaccuring proposal was to replace Nelson with a monument to Patrick Pearse. Indeed, the idea of putting Pearse on top of the monument was even floating around before the destruction of the Pillar, with a motion calling for Nelson to be removed and replaced by the revolutionary leader brought before Dublin Corporation in August 1948.

In 1979, architect Yann Goulet brought forward a controversial model for a proposed Pearse monument to the City Council.

Architect Yann Goulet with his proposed monument to Patrick Pearse, photographed at City Hall in…