Anna Livia Millennium Fountain

Public Art: Anna Livia Millennium Fountain

Nicknames: Floozy in the Jacuzzi, Hoor in the Sewer, Bidet Mulligan and Viagra Falls.

Sculptor: © Eamonn O’Doherty

Date : Erected in 1988

Discription: Bronze statue of Anna reclining on a granite slope as water flows over her.

Original Location: Originally the fountain was erected in O'Connell Street, Dublin in 1988.

Present Location: After spending four years in a crate it was relocated to Croppy Memorial Gardens (Croppy's Acre) facing Collins Barracks. 

Commissioned by: The fountain was sponsored by the Smurfit Family.

Cost: IR£200,000

History Of The Anna Livia Fountain: Originally the site (middle of O’Connell Street) had been allocated for the Dublin Spike, which was meant to commemorate the millennium, but it wasn't completed in time, so the fountain was used for the Millennium celebrations instead. The statue was based on James Joyce's character in Finnegan's Wake, Anna Livia Plurabelle. Anna Livia is believed to be protector the River Liffey. Unfortunately, the bronze long haired Anna, reclining on a granite slope as the water ran down past her body, was seen as a little too suggestive and thus earnt the name "Floozy in the Jacuzzi" by the locals. Other names included "Hoor in the Sewer", "Bidet Mulligan" and "Viagra Falls". Unfortunately for the "old floozy" the fountain became a popular site for litter, vandalism and graffiti which resulted in the decision to relocate it alongside the River Liffey. In 2001 Anna and the fountain left O'Connell Street and was placed in a crate for nearly 6 years waiting to be unveiled at Croppy Memorial Gardens, burial ground for the fallen men of the 1798 Rebellion. In 2006 the council announced it would soon be re-erected but alas so far no word on went this event will take place.

Controversy: Occassionally, the reclining Anna would disappear under a huge white froth of foam when pranksters or drunken revellers got hold of washing detergent and dumped it in the fountain. The street would be awash with soap suds making the local businesses none too happy and making the street all the more slippery.

Poor old Anna has spent over 5 years in a crate at the Council depot in Raheny waiting to be relocated to Croppy Memorial Gardens (Croppy's Acre), facing Collins Barracks.

The replacement for the Floozy didn't fair much better. The Spire of Dublin was erected in January 2003 and soon it became known as the following ;The Spike; The Stiletto in the Ghetto; The Scud in the Mud ; The Nail in the Pale; The Metropole; The Stiffy by the Liffey; the Rod to God; the Pin in the Bin; the Erection at the Intersection; and the North Pole (O'Connell Street is on the northside of Dublin).

[COMMENT0000000067]