The Rose Park Monument

The Rose Park Monument

A statue commemorating the original Rose of Tralee Mary O'Connor who was immortalised in the famous ballad by William Pembroke Mulchinock, was unveiled in August 2009. The life size bronze statue, commissioned by Tralee Town Council as part of the 50th anniversary of the Rose of Tralee Festival and sculpted by renowned Irish sculptor Jeanne Rynhart is located in the park's famous Rose Garden. The figures were modelled in the Rynhart Gallery in Ballylickey, County Cork and cast at the Connolly Foundry in Kilbaha, County Clare.[3]

Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, mother of the famous Kennedy clan, is also remembered here. The remembrance stone was unveiled by her daughter, Jean Kennedy Smith, United States Ambassador to Ireland in August 1995. The old lady, who died at the age of 105, left behind a message of fortitude which is recorded on the plinth: "I find it interesting to reflect on what has made my life, even with its moments of pain, an essentially happy one. I have come to the conclusion that the most important element in human life is faith."[4]

A limestone sculpture of a blacksmith called Draíocht an Ghabha meaning the Magic Blacksmith was sculpted by Fred Conlon in 1998 and is located near Siamsa Tíre.[5]