Irish sculptor Jeanne Rynhart dies aged 74

Sculptor’s most recognised pieces include statues of Molly Malone and Annie Moore

The Molly Malone statue on Suffolk Street, Dublin. Photograph: Dave Meehan/The Irish Times
The Molly Malone statue on Suffolk Street, Dublin. Photograph: Dave Meehan/The Irish Times

Jeanne Rynhart the Dublin Sculptor whose most recognised piece was possibly Dublin’s Molly Malone statue, has died, aged 74.

Her works also included the Annie Moore statues in Cobh, Co Cork and on Ellis Island in New York. These statues commemorate the first passenger processed through the now world-famous Ellis Island immigration station on January 1st, 1892.

In 1993, then president Mary Robinson attended the special dedication ceremony of the Ellis Island sculpture which depicts Moore stepping off the gangplank, holding a small suitcase in one hand . The sister statue at Cobh, Ireland, includes Annie Moore’s two brothers.

Ms Rynhart was born in Dublin and graduated from the National College of Art and Design with a degree in Fine Art in 1969. After college she moved to Coventry in England to further her work and then to Bantry in Co Cork with her family in 1981. In Cork she operated under Rynhart Fine Art Bronze .

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In 1994, Ms Rynhart’s daughter joined her and now Audrey and her husband Les Elliot run the business from their studio in Glengarriff, West Cork.

Tim O'Brien

Tim O'Brien

Tim O'Brien is an Irish Times journalist