BREAKING: Anonymous benefactor pays bill to repair twice vandalised town centre statue
by Paul O'Meara · Leinster LeaderThe cost of repairing a statue of a historic centre in the centre of Naas has been paid anonymously.
The five feet six inches tall recreation of John Devoy, a native of Greenhills, near Johnstown, was unveiled about eight years ago at Poplar Square.
However, it was vandalised on two occasions this year leaving the structure in a discoloured condition.
A Naas Municipal District meeting was told by KCC official Eoghan Ryan that the original sculptor Jarlath Daly was been commissioned to carry out the restoration work, which concluded this week.
Mr Ryan had indicated previously that the cost would come to some €10,000.
The meeting also heard that while the identity of a possible suspect is known to the authorities, a prosecution is unlikely to follow because the individual has mental health issues.
At a previous NMD meeting, Mr Ryan said the gardaí had been contacted and they undertook to address the matter with the person allegedly responsible, described as someone “with issues.”
Members of the Kildare Association in New York raised 40,000 US dollars to create the statue about 9 years ago.
John Devoy was born in Greenhills, between Johnstown and Kill in 1842 and he was Fenian organiser in Naas, having served with the French Foreign Legion in Algeria.
He was jailed for treason for a time and went to the US in 1871.
He was described as the greatest of the Fenians by Pádraig Pearse and is also remembered by a monument - erected in the mid-1960s and now situated on the link road between Johnstown and Kill. He died in 1928 at the age of 86 and was buried in Glasnevin.