Cleopatra's Needle

leftism

My Dad was born and reared in Inchicore in the Ranch (just across the river from the Phoenix Park). For my entire life, he has always referred to the Wellington Monument as "Cleopatra's Needle". I have very fond childhood memories of learning to ride a bike, play football and fly kites around Cleopatra's Needle, in the Park. I've since looked it up and cannot seem to find any reference to the monument being called this anywhere though! It is almost exclusively referred to by its original title of the Wellington Monument.

Does anyone else have a recollection of it being called Cleopatra's Needle? If so, i'd love to know the origins of this name. Is it just an old Dublin nickname for the monument? Do people still call it that? I know i will always refer to it as "Cleopatra's Needle", mostly because its much better than calling it after a man who was so ashamed of being Irish that he famously stated, "being born in a stable does not make one a horse"...

The Master

Lots of people still call it Cleopatra's needle.

It's a copy of an ancient Egyptian obelisk design, there's loads of them around the world and quite a few have the same nickname

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleopatra%27s_Needle

Hootanany

There is one in DC USA

lord lucan

There are Egyptian obelisks in NYC,London and Paris and all are popularly known as Cleopatra's needles despite having nothing to do with Cleopatra.

I sense that some Dublin wit was repsonsible for referring to the Wellington Monument as Cleopatra's Needle. It may be the result of some old anti-British sentiment,not referring to Wellington at all but calling it something else.

Could also be local humour,Dublin standing proud alongside NYC,Paris and London with its very own needle.:)

BeerNut

leftism wrote: »

a man who was so ashamed of being Irish that he famously stated, "being born in a stable does not make one a horse"...

Almost certainly misattributed:

Though such remarks have often been quoted as Wellington's response on being called Irish, the earliest published sources yet found for similar comments are those about him attributed to an Irish politician:
- The poor old Duke! what shall I say of him? To be sure he was born in Ireland, but being born in a stable does not make a man a horse.
-- Daniel O'Connell, in a speech (16 October 1843), as quoted in Shaw's Authenticated Report of the Irish State Trials (1844), p. 93

From Wikiquote

The first of the three Cleopatra's Needles was the Paris one, erected in 1833. London and New York followed. I guess using the name for the Wellington Monument was copied from that. Sounds to me like a deliberate attempt to scrub the Iron Duke from Dublin's history.
(Edit: what lord_lucan said)

leftism

Cheers for the quick replies lads!

Good to know the ould lad wasn't just a complete nutcase.... haha

Hootanany

http://www.akhet.co.uk/cleo.htm


The real deal in London

HeidiHeidi

That was known, when I was growing up - and always will be known to me - as The Slippery Steps.