DR ISAAC USHER MONUMENT
DR ISAAC USHER MONUMENT - THE DOCTOR WAS ONE OF THE FIRST PEOPLE IN IRELAND TO DIE IN A CAR ACCIDENT
Each year about 1.2 million people die worldwide in car crashes, now the 9th most common cause of death. It should be noted that 151 years ago Mary Ward, living in Ireland, became the world’s first car accident fatality. https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/arid-30946081.html
The Usher Monument appears to be the only monument on this type in Dundrum. Maybe there are others but I could not find any.
Dr Isaac Usher was a popular resident of Dundrum at the beginning of the 20th Century. He did a lot for the town but unfortunately he was killed in one of the first accidents involving a motor car in Ireland, when a car struck him while reversing near the station in 1917. The residents decided to build a monument to honour him.
The monument was a stone obelisk with a source of water and a trough to provide drinking water for passing horses. There were also brass cups on chains which could be used for drinking by humans. The monument was placed right in the middle of the northern crossroads.
Many years later, with the increase in traffic, the monument was considered to be blocking the road, so it was moved to one side, to its present location in front of Usher House. With the disappearance of horse-drawn traffic, the trough was converted into a seat.
The monument was covered up for protection during the building of the Usher House office block and was forgotten about behind a fence for a few years, but with the opening of the office block, the monument is on display again.
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