Anti-lockdown vandals target mural of Dolores O'Riordan

The vandalism is on a wall near King John's Castle in the Medieval Quarter of the city Picture: Karen Sugrue / Twitter

Vandals have erected graffiti protesting against lockdown measures next to a mural of the late Dolores O’Riordan in Limerick.

The vandalism, which states “lockdowns destroys lives” and “hands off our kids”, is on a wall near King John's Castle in the Medieval Quarter of the city.

Ah lads. Who did this? pic.twitter.com/m3AwJtRIvJ

— Karen Sugrue 🏳️‍⚧️ 🇵🇸 (@KarSugrue) July 16, 2021

Elisa O’Donovan, an independent councillor, said it was “very disappointing” to see the wall defaced, adding it did not reflect the views of the local community.

“It is a very difficult time for people at the moment. But, unfortunately, we are still in a pandemic, we are still in a situation that we are in. I think this sort of rhetoric is really not helpful,” she said.

“In Limerick, we have seen a very small minority of people who have been protesting against the restrictions, but it has only been a minority. 

The wider population in Limerick has realised there was a need for these restrictions. To say it destroys lives is untrue, they saved lives.” 

Cllr O’Donovan said Limerick people were great at coming together, with a recent spike in cases being reduced by the people “rallying together”.

“We’re all very proud of that mural and we’re all very proud of Dolores. It’s a beautiful piece of art. There are a lot of people who use that walkway so to see it there, in such a prominent place, it is disappointing,” she added.

Hopefully it will be taken down soon and it won’t detract from what is a lovely area, and that it won’t take away from the lovely piece of art that we have there.” 

A spokeswoman for Limerick council said the graffiti is on private property, and the local authority could not just remove it.

"We have to get the permission of the owner to do so and we are seeking to do that. Once we have permission, our cleansing dept can remove it," the spokeswoman added.

The Dolores O'Riordan Mural near King John's Castle, Limerick City. Picture: Brendan Gleeson

The mural of the lead singer of The Cranberries was erected in November 2019 through a collaboration between the urban art festival Draw Out and the Dublin street artist Aches to celebrate the influential women of Limerick.

Aches, who also painted the Savita Halappanavar mural in Dublin in the lead-up to the 8th Amendment referendum, overlayed three separate images of Dolores performing onstage back in 1993.

O’Riordan died in January 2018, aged 46, at her home in London after drowning due to alcohol intoxication.

The Cranberries released their eighth and final album In The End in April 2019 after O'Riordan's death. 

The surviving instrumentalists pieced together her demos with in-studio recordings over the course of the subsequent year and worked with long-time producer Stephen Street to finalise the album, and include O'Riordan's vocals posthumously.