Cork City Council cautions against proposal for statue of mosquito said to killed Oliver Cromwell

Cork City Council is set to consider a proposal for a tiny statue honouring a mosquito linked to the death of Oliver Cromwell.

A proposal for what has been touted as the world's smallest public statue, commemorating the mosquito said to have led to Oliver Cromwell's death, has been cautioned against by Cork City Council management.

Green Party councillor Oliver Moran attracted widespread attention earlier this year after proposing a tiny statue to the mosquito or midge believed to have bitten Cromwell, who later died from malaria, historically known as Cork fever.

The council’s community, culture, and placemaking committee recently discussed the motion.

Director of services Rebecca Loughry said: “The Arts Office would advise against a commemorative artwork that would take as its starting point the celebration of the death of an individual.” 

She told councillors: “Malaria remains a serious and deadly disease and is endemic in certain parts of the world.” 

There were 610,000 estimated deaths from malaria around the world in 2024.

“Any commemorative sculpture of a mosquito should take account of the gravity of the disease and its impact on human mortality.” 

Such a sculpture may also “inadvertently result in associating Oliver Cromwell with Cork city”.

Thirdly, she said: “Nothwithstanding the proposed small scale of the sculpture, a budget for the commission would need to be identified in order to ensure payment to the commissioned artist, materials, installation, and any other costs that emerge.” 

Mr Moran said that council officials “were cautious about the idea, especially about the risks of making light of malaria or associating the city with Cromwell.

“I argued that given the enormous interest, here in Cork and internationally, we were obligated to look seriously at it and consider how it could be done. I suggested Elizabeth Fort as a location, where it could be placed in the context of the time.” 

Fine Gael's Shane O’Callaghan said that his own family had asked him about the sculpture having seen the initial motion online, and supported looking deeper into it, according to Mr Moran.

“Officials were asked to return with concrete ideas about how it could be done for the committee to consider… we'll see where the next meeting takes us,” he says.