Sir Robert McMordie Memorial, City Hall, Donegall Square, Belfast, County Antrim, BT1 5GS

Sir Robert McMordie Memorial

A formal statue in Carrara marble, sculpted around 1919 by the prominent English sculptor Frederick William Pomeroy, depicts the former Lord Mayor Robert James McMordie wearing his mayoral robes and chain. The figure stands on a tall grey granite plinth decorated with egg and dart moulding beneath its cornice. The front face of the plinth carries an inscription in gold leaf.

McMordie was a solicitor and member of the Belfast Corporation who served as Lord Mayor from 1910 to 1914, during a period of significant political turbulence. He was also Conservative MP for East Belfast. Following his death in March 1914, his wife Julia McMordie commissioned this memorial to honour her late husband. Julia McMordie was herself a notable figure: she became an Honorary Burgess of the City in 1914, served as MP for South Belfast from 1921 to 1925, and was awarded an OBE in 1919.

The statue was unveiled on 31st May 1919 by the Dowager Marchioness of Dufferin and Ava, making it the final statue erected in the City Hall grounds to honour an individual person. Within the same grounds, Pomeroy had previously designed the bronze statue of the First Marquis of Dufferin and Ava (1902-06) and the marble statue of Sir James Haslett (1907-09). Pomeroy was an adherent of the Arts and Crafts Movement and initially trained in architectural carving before moving to portraiture work.

The memorial originally faced westward on the western side of the City Hall, positioned between the Dixon Memorial and the First Marquis of Dufferin Memorial. During alterations to the grounds in the 1920s, when the Cenotaph and Garden of Remembrance were added to the south-western edge in 1925-27, the statue was relocated and now stands in line with the western end of the main façade, next to the bronze statue of Sir Daniel Dixon. Cleaning and repair work was carried out to the memorial between 1992 and 1993.

The statue is situated among a group of high-quality memorials in the grounds surrounding Belfast City Hall, complementing both one another and the main building itself. Four similar standing statues of Lord Mayors face Donegall Place. The memorial contributes significantly to the historical record of Belfast's civic life and stands within a conservation area.