Dizzy For Miss Lizzie

Stand tall… Jamie Lyon, Peter Murtagh & Dara MacMahon WEDS1NOV23

here can be very little doubt at this stage that the McParland lad has made some kind of pact with the weather gods.

Whether it’s putting on those wonderful Cove outdoor screenings or just unleashing some free magic for the kids on Theatre Lane, the sun always shines.

Always.

So, it was no surprise this morning when Ross pulled together a motley crew for the unveiling of the town’s first historical Corten Steel totem down at Greystones train station that, despite an early morning onslaught, the clouds parted and that mysterious yellow orb in the sky did its groovy thang.

The reason for the gathering was actually two-fold. Having teamed up with Dermod Dwyer and others to turn our local train station into an open air museum celebrating iconic cultural figures from Greystones’ past, the subject of the latest Tom Byrne portrait and potted history, Elizabeth Hawkins-Whitshed, just also happens to be the first subject in their upcoming Whale theatre series, Legends Of Greystones.

We’ve celebrated Ms Lizzie before, this 19th century feminist icon having been born in Killincarrick Farmhouse (now the Greystones Golf Club), the only child of Captain and Mrs Hawkins-Whitshed, and inheriting the estate at the age of 11. Just eight years later, Elizabeth married Colonel Frederick Burnaby (she was 18; he was 38).

When they separated, Lizzie began travelling the world, conquering over 100 mountain climbs along the way. More of which here. And at The Whale on November 24th, of course.

And that this remarkable woman’s train station tribute should be unveiled on the 102nd anniversary of another Greystones pioneer, Averil Deverell, becoming the first woman to take the bar is more than fitting.

Today, notorious grime-fighting duo McFarland and Dwyer were joined by the artist, Tom Byrne, plus Greystones Tidy Towns’ David O’Reilly, architect Colum O’Brion, musician Cormac Breatnach and the man sponsoring the unveiling the town’s first totem, Neil Durkan.

And a fine time was had by all. Especially when Cormac whipped out his low pipe and played a touching lament. Lizzie would have loved it. And then been ever-so-slightly annoyed.

Thanks to the wonders of social media, the unveiling had to be done again, for a better angle. Huzzah!

You can find out more about putting our art in the Dart here, and about the upcoming Lizzie Hawkins-Whitshed tribute at The Whale here.