Munster in 30 Artworks, No 25:  Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty in Killarney, by Alan Ryan Hall

The statue commemorates the Kerry cleric credited with saving many Jews and Allied servicemen during his time in the Vatican during WWII 

 Eamon Mulvihill playing the pipes in 2020 at the statue of Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty in Kililarney. Picture: Valerie O’Sullivan 

Alan Ryan Hall’s statue of Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty in Killarney cuts an intriguing figure; the late cleric is depicted in mid-stride, with his cap in one hand and a Bible in the other. O’Flaherty was a senior official at the Vatican who, during the German occupation of Italy in World War II, helped saved thousands of lives by arranging hiding places for Allied servicemen and Jews fleeing the Nazis.

“This is how he was remembered by many of those who approached him for help,” says Jerry O’Grady, the former CEO of Killarney Tourism and Commerce, who was instrumental in having the statue commissioned. “They’d arrive in Rome, disguised as farmers or whatever, and go to a particular arch by the Vatican gates where Fr Hugh would be waiting between noon and 3pm. Once they’d identified themselves, there’d be no chat or anything. He'd just say ‘follow me’ and stride off across St Peter’s Square to his residence, which, ironically, was in the German College.”