Lady Gregory, co-founder of the Abbey Theatre, to be memorialised with statue at her former home
One of Ireland's most famed dramatists, who co-founded the Abbey Theatre, is set to be immortalised with a statue on the site of her former home.
A sculpture of Lady Gregory, born Isabella Augusta Persse in 1852, will be erected at Coole Park, Co Galway.
The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), which now owns the site that had previously been owned by Lady Gregory, said it wanted to commission a monument to 'this great Irish literary pioneer' with a picture of her sitting under a tree to be the inspiration of the work.
The Coole Park nature reserve lies west of Gort across an area of around 400 hectares.
But in the early 20th century, the unassuming area was one of the centres of the Irish literary revival. Lady Gregory's home played host to the likes of William Butler Yeats, George Bernard Shaw, John Millington Synge and Sean O'Casey over the years.
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Lady Gregory had had an interest in literature from a young age and was introduced to London society, literature and the arts by her husband Sir William Gregory of Coole.
When he died in 1892, Lady Gregory began to devote much of her time to writing, learned the Irish language and began spending time in the Aran Islands.
The Abbey Theatre in Dublin around 1930. It was co-founded by Lady Gregory and William Butler Yeats. File photo:She translated Irish mythologies from Irish to English such as the stories of Cuchulainn and the Children of Lír.
After meeting Yeats in the 1890s, they became lifelong friends and collaborators. They were among the co-founders of the Abbey Theatre in 1904, a significant point in the Irish literary revival.
In its tender documents, the NPWS said that Coole Park would be a fitting place for a statue of Lady Gregory given how she frequently mentioned it as her home and sanctuary, and how so many literary giants also came there for inspiration.
She wrote: 'These woods have been well loved, well tended by some who came before me, and my affection has been no less than theirs. The generations of trees have been my care, my comforters. Their companionship has often brought me peace.'
The life-size sculpture will be made in either bronze or stone, and the NPWS will consider whether it will be included as part of the walking trail in the walled garden at Coole Park.
It said that the estimated, indicative budget for the project is €70,000. It also expects to award a contract to build the sculpture in the coming weeks, with delivery expected by the end of May 2026.
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