A Star For Connie
Public Art Commission for Constance Smith Memorial. People's Park, Limerick. 2025
This bronze and stone sculpture commemorates the life of Limerick-born Hollywood actor Constance Smith (Connie), marking her international film career stretching from the 1940s to the 1960s. Cast in bronze and set in stone, Connie’s star is the first piece of public sculpture dedicated to any woman in Limerick city.
This artwork has been designed as a reminder of her successes, her talent and her extraordinary life. The work stands as both a tribute to her achievements, and a channel to bring her home. Despite her initial meteoric success, Connie died in obscurity and poverty, her legacy lost. She died in London and sadly, her death and funeral were not witnessed. Inside this artwork, sealed between the bronze and stone, is a bowl of soil brought from Islington, where she died and was cremated. This symbolic gesture imagines this sculpture as a place to remember her and her achievements.
This work was commissioned by Ormston House with support from Creative Ireland. It grew from a series of talks and workshops with the residents of Wolfe Tone Street, developed with historian Sharon Slater. The workshops and the resulting star arose from the same commission as CONNIE, a theatrical event that re-imagined the life of Constance Smith.