TREE OF GOLD WILL NOT BE RELOCATED TO THE NORTH WALL

TREE OF GOLD AT THE CENTRAL BANK IN DAME STREET [WILL NOT BE RELOCATED TO THE NORTH WALL]

Photographed in August 2016
Update 18th. February 2020 - Until today I was unaware that in August 2016 it had been announced that this sculpture would remain in situ despite speculation that it was to be relocated to the new Central Bank complex at North Wall Quay.


For many years I thought that the sculpture outside the Central Bank was the ‘Money Tree’ but it is officially named "Crann an Oir" which means "Tree of Gold”.

In 2015 the Central Bank announced that it was to spend €500,000 to move its iconic golden ball from outside headquarters on Dame Street in Dublin to its new base at North Wall Quay. Soon after publishing some photographs of the sculpture I was contacted by a number of people indicating that it could not possibly cost so much to relocate a sculpture. I contacted the bank and they advised me that the cost included much more than just the removal of the sculpture. Later a journalist contact supplied the following quote: "It is believed the estimated cost was accurate, despite a Central Bank official dismissing it as ridiculous at the time".

The sculpture, by the late Eamonn O'Doherty, was chosen in 1991 as the result of a competition.

Éamonn O'Doherty (1939 – 4 August 2011), born in Derry, Northern Ireland, was an Irish sculptor, painter, printmaker, photographer and lecturer. He was best known for his sculptures in public places. He died, aged 72, in Dublin.

Well known sculptures by Éamonn O'Doherty include the Quincentennial Sculpture on Eyre Square in Galway and the famous Anna Livia installation.

O'Doherty also won awards for his paintings, amongst other on the Irish Exhibition of Living Art. An exhibition of his photographs from the collection of the Irish Traditional Music Archive toured around the United States.