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Legacy
Gabriel Hayes led a busy working life and worked on many designs, sculptures and artwork over her lifetime 1909-1978. She studied in Dublin under Seán Keating and in Paris. She won the Taylor Art Prize in 1934 in the RDS, and was also commissioned that same year to sculpt for the Hospice in Harold's Cross. Her varied artistic talents led to the following memorable works.


 * The Three Graces by Hayes (1943), are visible on the façade of a building in Dublin’s north inner city, the building a former college for domestic science students is now part of TU Dublin. The sculpture is unique for its time as it of women. Gabriel Hayes was commissioned to create a sculpture that represented the educational instruction that would take place within the college. Her statues are life sized and the women are clothed and seem to be carrying out domestic household duties such as sweeping, spinning and sewing. Hayes created her statue as a variation to Zeus daughters in Greek mythology.




 * Kildare Street Sculpture was created across the balconies of the building and depicts factory workers and ordinary Irish folk working in industry. The building was designed by architect James Rupert Boyd Barrett and Gabriel Hayes worked alongside the tradesmen on scaffolding, a rare engagement for a woman at this time, as a male dominance existed. The building was completed in 1942.

Designs for the Decimal Coins
Hayes was commissioned to design the halfpenny, one penny and two penny coins for Ireland when decimalisation occurred in 1971. The Halfpenny design came from inspiration from a manuscript in a French cathedral in Cologne. The penny design came from Ireland's famous manuscript created by Irish monks, the Book of Kells. The 2 pence coin came again from a bible in a French Library in Paris.





Hayes work can be seen all over Ireland and she was commissioned for much religious work. These include a Life size bronze statue in a church in Fermoy Cork, 28 Life size white coloured statues carved from Portland stone that stand proud in the new Galway Cathedral. The statues represent the 14 stations of the cross. The project took 18 years to complete, and finished in 1976.

Hayes legacy from artwork, design through to sculpture has enriched Irish culture from independence through to modern times. Her design and work represented a vision both her and Keating portrayed of the creation of modern Ireland, a country to be proud of with work for all. Hayes tried to encompass women in this vision which was a difficult task after colonisation, civil war history and the establishment of the free state, where women were not represented in most fields, and were not always allowed to work.