Legendary London Mayor Dick Whittington remembered with Kilkenny stone memorial!

What links a busy thoroughfare in London, a childrens’ rhyme and a quarry in North Kilkenny?
Believe it or not, it is the legendary, historical figure of Dick Whittington.

To many, Dick Whittington is a pantomime character or the central character in an old-fashioned rhyme, but he was actually a real person.
Richard Whittington served as Mayor of London on three occasions, before and after the turn of the 15th century. He served under famed Kings of England Richard II, Henry IV and Henry V.

However, to most of us Dick Whittington is a ‘follow your dream’ tale of a young lad who dreams of the big city of London, but almost gives up on his dreams until he hears church bells ‘calling’ him back.

That Whittington was mayor is historical fact, while the story of his boyhood ‘crisis’ can only be confirmed to be a folk tale. Either way, he is still remembered on stage and in rhyme - and in stone!
Also memorialised is his companion in the poem and panto version of his life - his cat Tommy.
As can be seen in the photograph of the memorial (above) Tommy sits atop the memorial and it is this version of Tommy that links the story to Kilkenny.

The original, inscribed stone was erected in 1821, on Highgate Hill in London, believed to have replaced an earlier memorial that was in place in the 1700s and that may have replaced an earlier, medieval wayside cross.

In the rhyme, Whittington is leaving London but pauses for a moment, to sit on a stone marker on Highgate Hill, and it is then he hears the bells of St Mary le Bow Church calling him back and predicting that he will be mayor.
Back then, in the 14th century, Highgate was a main route to and from London.

The bottom part of the memorial is made from Portland Stone. Tommy the cat, however, is made from polished Kellymount Limestone, sourced from a quarry in Paulstown. This was added to the memorial in 1964 and was created by award winning and famed British sculptor Jonathan Kenworthy, once described as ‘the best sculptor of animals’ of the last century.
The monument is listed with Heritage England.