Munster In 30 Artworks, No 1: John B Keane statue, Listowel, by Séamus Connolly
Mary Keane and Niall Toibin in Listowel in 2007 at the unveiling of the statue of John B Keane. To the right of the statue is artist Séamus Connolly. Picture: Domnick Walsh/Eye Focus
Next month (May 30) marks the 20th anniversary of the passing, aged 73, of the legendary writer John B Keane. The author of such classic plays as Sive and The Field was synonymous with the north Kerry town of Listowel, and it was inevitable that he be commemorated there with a statue.
Fittingly, Séamus Connolly’s bronze sculpture of Keane, commissioned by the local Rotary Club and unveiled in the Small Square in Listowel on June 2, 2007, depicts him carrying his hat in his right hand, and raising his left hand in greeting, a gesture familiar to anyone who met him on his daily perambulations about the town.
“My father was not really a man for standing still,” says the playwright’s son Billy Keane, who now runs the family pub on William Street. “Brendan Landy, a local photographer, had this lovely image of him saluting the camera, and we suggested to Séamus that he use it as the basis for his sculpture.”
Connolly, who lives at Loop Head, Co Clare, had considerable experience of working in bronze before taking on the John B Keane commission. He’d trained initially with his father James, and had then completed a degree with the Royal College of Art in London. In 2006, he’d produced a statue of Richard Harris for the town of Kilkee, where the actor’s family had often spent their holidays.
Connolly’s statue of Harris, who’d famously played the role of the Bull McCabe in Jim Sheridan’s film adaptation of The Field in 1990, was unveiled by his great admirer, the actor Russell Crowe.
“I actually met Crowe the night before the unveiling,” says the sculptor. “We were introduced, but I was that shy I could think of nothing whatever to say to him.”
Connolly never met Keane, but remembers visiting the pub on William St with his parents as a youngster. “That was the first place I ever saw a colour television. I was probably ten years old, and I knew there was something different about the television, but I didn’t quite know what!”
Connolly remembers the John B Keane statue being a big project. “I probably spent six months at it. First I made a life size model in clay, and then, when everyone was happy with that, I made a series of moulds and cast them in bronze.”
The unveiling was a huge occasion in Listowel, attended by the playwright’s widow Mary, his children Billy, Conor, John and Joanna, along with hundreds of supporters from the local community and the arts world.
The actor Niall Toibin did the honours, speaking of how he and several generations of thespians owed the playwright an enormous debt in terms of the work he had created for them down the years; Toibin had been Keane’s favourite actor in the role of the Bull on stage, and had performed in any number of his plays.
“The statue was very well received,” says Connolly. “I heard that Mary didn’t want to look up at it on the day, as she was afraid she might start crying, but that she always gave it a rub when she was passing afterwards.”
“That’s true,” says Billy Keane. “My mother would always tip his hand when she was passing. You’d think it might have upset her, seeing the statue every day, but it actually gave her a great boost.”
Connolly cast two busts of John B Keane from the clay model for his statue. One he presented to the Rotary Club in Listowel, the other to the Dublin Writers’ Museum. “What I didn’t realise when I first contacted the museum was that it’s meant to be devoted to Dublin writers,” he says. “I didn’t hear back from them for a long time, but then they got in touch to say they’d discussed the matter and would accept the bust, even though John B was from Kerry.”
Connolly arranged for another Kerryman, the then Minister for the Arts, Jimmy Deenihan, to make the presentation in 2011.
Deenihan was one of many who paid tribute to Mary Keane on her passing in 2015, acknowledging her status in the community in Listowel, and the support she’d given John B throughout his long career as a writer.
The family pub continues to be a huge draw for visitors to north Kerry. “The best and the worst thing about running a pub is you never know who’s going to walk in the door,” says Billy Keane. “But the memory of my father is still very strong, and people who’ve seen his plays or read his books come in all the time for a drink and a chat. And then, everyone driving over the big bridge into Listowel sees the statue with its hand raised in greeting; it’s like my father is there to welcome them.”
- Our previous series, Cork In 50 Artworks, is available at https://www.irishexaminer.com/maintopics/?topic=5088788
