Decapitated head restored to statue of Irishman who sparked Australian goldrush
Paddy Hannan is regarded as a local hero in the area and a statue was erected in his honour in 1929.
Bronze statue of Paddy Hannan being restored. Photo: City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder
The decapitated head has been reattached to a famous statue of a Co Clare man who is credited with starting Australia’s Gold Rush.
Vandals had beheaded the 100-year-old statue of prospector Paddy Hannan in Kalgoorlie in Western Australia in October.
In 1893, Hannan – from Quin Co Clare – sparked a gold rush in Western Australia after discovering a deposit of the valuable metal.
The area, known as The Golden Mine, remains one of the richest goldfields in the world.
Hannan is regarded as a local hero in the area and a statue was erected in his honour in 1929.
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However, earlier this year vandals sawed the head off the bronze artwork before dumping it later that evening in the city.
Police in Western Australia subsequently charged an 38-year-old with one count of unlawful damage.
The statue of Paddy Hannan in Kalgoorlie before it was damaged
However, ABC News have reported how the head has now been successfully reattached by local Kalgoorlie firm ABBA Engineering.
According to ABBA Engineering General manager Steve McBride, the job was not an easy task.
He told ABC News: "It looked like he'd been hit with a bat or hammer,
"He was fairly beaten and battered … there was work on his nose to get that straightened out, there was a big crack on one of his cheeks and a few dents on his hat.
"He was definitely worse for wear."
The City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder's newly-elected Mayor Glenn Wilson also praised the engineers saying the vandalism had triggered widespread anger.
"I think what it goes to show is the amount of community passion that people have … and the outcry from those who felt that this was an issue for many different reasons," Mr Wilson said.
Gold prospector Patrick Hannan, who was baptised in 1840, emigrated to Australia when he was 22. His lucrative discovery on June 14, 1893 set off a major gold rush in the area now known as Kalgoorlie-Boulder in Western Australia.
Hannan struck gold in June 1893 with friends Thomas Flanagan from Ennis and Tipperary man Dan Shea.
At the time, they were searching for gold after a number of small discoveries had been made
On June 10, the three found gold near the surface of the dry soil in the bush. In the space of a week, the three men dug up the equivalent of several years wages.
One week alter, Hannan rode his horse to Coolgardie with about 100 ounces (3.1 kg) of gold to stake his claim.
Once that news broke, a huge number of people rushed to Kalgoorlie forever transforming the area.
