Ireland – Ennis – Steele’s Rock

This quirky little memorial marks where Tom Steele, a friend of Daniel O’Connell, would sit so that he could look over the river to try and see Matilda (Eileen) Crowe who lived in the house opposite. Matilda was the love of Tom’s life, but she didn’t acknowledge him and so after a while he went instead to Spain feeling just a little desolate.

Steele, also known as Honest Tom Steele, certainly appears to have been a bit of a character, and I might have seen his grave in Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin as it’s near to that of Daniel O’Connell. When O’Connell died in 1847 the loss hit Steele hard and he tried to commit suicide in London by throwing himself off a bridge into the River Thames. He was saved, but died shortly afterwards.

And the rock which Steele sat on…..