O’Brien Column, Liscannor, Co Clare

Looking up at the O'Brien Column after renovation

History of the O’Brien Column

O’Brien’s Tower on the cliffs of Moher was built in 1835 by Cornelius O’Brien, the local landowner. It was intended as a viewing point for the cliffs and it had a kitchen and other rooms as well as a coach house and stables though these are no longer extant. The view from the viewing platform is spectacular. Cornelius O’Brien was responsible for the flagstone wall along the cliff path which may have been a famine relief project. The Cliffs of Moher are one of Ireland’s most important tourist attractions with approximately a million visits per year.

However, while those who go to the Visitor Centre see the O’Brien Tower close to the cliffs, many drive past a handsome column built in his memory and a little roadside well with his crest above the door.

Just down the road is the handsome limestone column erected as a testimonial to Cornelius O’Brien after his death. This is the wording carved on the plinth:

“THIS TESTIMONIAL

HAS BEEN ERECTED BY PUBLIC

SUBSCRIPTION TO

CORNELIUS O’BRIEN ESQ. THE REPRESENTATIVE

OF THIS COUNTY IN PARLIAMENT AS A LASTING

RECORD OF HIS PUBLIC CONDUCT AND PRIVATE

WORTH IN ADMIRATION OF HIS ENERGY AND

SUCCESS THAT CHARACTERISED HIS MANY

LABOURS TO PROMOTE THE PROSPERITY OF HIS

COUNTY AND THE HAPPINESS AND COMFORT

OF HIS PEOPLE AND AS A TRIBUTE TO HIS WARM

HEARTED LIBERALITY AND FORE-THOUGHT

IN PROVIDING FOR THE ACCOMMODATION

OF STRANGERS VISITING THE MAGNIFICENT

SCENERY OF THIS NEIGHBOURHOOD

SIGNED ON BEHALF OF THE COMMITTEE

COLEMAN MCLOCHLEN, BART, CHAIRMAN,

MICHAEL MCNAMARA, SEC.

14 OCTOBER 1853″

(1853 is an error as O’Brien did not die until 1857). The handsome fluted Doric column was designed by J.Petty Esq. C.E. and was built of Liscannor limestone; it is about 70 feet high with an urn on the top. Originally the plan was to place a statue of Cornelius on the top but for some reason this was replaced by an urn. In the Clare Journal of 26 Nov 1855 there is a sketch with the statue and it explains that ‘the site proposed is the imposing one of the Cliffs of Moher, the scene of Mr O’Brien’s labours, and the witness of the untiring philanthropy in the public cause which has procured for him this noble mark of the respect in which he is held by the public.’

Restoration of the column by the Follies Trust

The Follies Trust commissioned a drone survey of the column which revealed that the iron cramps on the abacus, below the urn, had rusted and caused the joints to open. This was allowing water ingress and leaching was causing discolouration of the stone shaft and the growth of small amounts of vegetation.

The Follies Trust requested an estimate from Consarc Conservation and then started fundraising in March 2017. We raised funds from a variety of sources, worked with the owners, partnered with the Friends of the O’Brien column and then went out to tender in June. Eoin Madigan was the successful contractor and work started in mid July 2017. A scaffold was erected, the urn was taken down by crane to the ground, iron cramps removed and replaced with stainless steel. The urn was then lifted back and carefully replaced. In August 2017 the column was re-pointed and roots removed from the plinth.

The intervention by the Follies Trust was just in time. Eoin discovered when he reached the urn that it was dangerously unstable and could have toppled at any time. Left untouched it is likely the urn would have come crashing down in the next winter storm. This was indeed a timely intervention! The project finished on target in early September 2017 and a Follies Trust book describing the rescue of the O’Brien Column and the history of the man it was erected to commemorate was published later in the year.

This important monument is in a highly visible position on the Wild Atlantic Way and the Follies Trust is preserving it for future generations to enjoy on their way to and from the Cliffs of Moher. It will continue to commemorate the labours of a good man who worked hard for his tenants, his constituents and his county.