Dublin fair city's Molly Malone was no lady of the night, and her depiction as a 17th century prostitute is being challenged by an NUI Galway zoologist.
Prof Noel Wilkins says the "real Molly" was a vulnerable Victorian teenager who probably lived during the late 19th century - 200 years later than originally suggested. And she led a very different life to that of the "buxom Restoration matron" represented in the city centre sculpture of her.
The zoologist outlines his claim in a new book on Irish shellfish and shellfisheries, in which he reproduces a bust made by Pádraig Pearse's father as part of his "Molly" research. The nine-inch high plaster "Fishergirl" bust,was purchased recently by the academic at auction. It was made by James Pearse and Edmund Sharp, two sculptors based at 27 Great Brunswick Street, now Pearse Street.
James Pearse, principal partner in the business, was father of Pádraig, the teacher, revolutionary and leader of the 1916 Rising. Pádraig's younger brother, William, also worked as a sculptor before going to Paris to study art.
The bust is a contemporaneous representation of a typical Dublin fishergirl of the Victorian period, Prof Wilkins says. He quotes Mr John Murphy, author The Mystery of Molly Malone, who also believes that the young woman didn't live in the late 17th century.
"Murphy suggests that the song was written around 1883 to 1884, and the very existence of this bust - and perhaps others like it - would lend support to his claim."
The child in the Pearse and Sharp bust is "much more pretty, demure, fragile and vulnerable" than modern representations, Prof Wilkins says. "She looks as if she is already wasting of the fever."
The mussels which Molly carried in her wheelbarrow - "through streets broad and narrow" - would only have become popular food in the late 19th century, according to Prof Wilkins's book which takes a "whimsical" look at shellfish history and folklore. Mussels were largely used for bait until then, and scallops weren't consumed until even later - the view being that shellfish constituted "bia bocht".
Prof Wilkins argues that EU accession was the catalyst for development of an industry, which now generates over €28 million export revenue and employs over 1,000 people. Alive Alive-O: the shellfish and shellfisheries of Ireland by Noel P Wilkins is published by TirEolas.