A large crowd assembled at the south end of this eponymous boulevard to watch the 1882 unveiling of O'Connell's imposing and remarkably beautiful statue. Irish sculptor John Henry Foley also designed the Prince Albert Memorial statue, and brings an equally statesmanlike aura to his Dublin opus. Lawyer O'Connell (1775-1847), peacefully campaigned for Catholic Emancipation (equal rights). His success saw him proclaimed The Liberator or The Great Emancipator, and his place was written into Irish history. According to his wishes, his heart is buried in Rome and his body beneath a Round Tower at Dublin's Glasnevin Cemetery.
