Dublin has a famous tourist attraction that has been attracting unwanted attention for years. The statue of Molly Malone, a semi-historical figure, has been rubbed by people the wrong way for years in hopes of good luck. Tourists visiting the site rub the bare-chested area of the statue that is seen in a low-cut top. The constant groping has led to the particular part getting discoloured. Authorities earlier announced that they will start working to restore the statue and discourage tourists from grabbing it.

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Dublin City Council (DCC) has come up with a plan which involves stewards patrolling the statue to stop gropers from touching the statue. Tour companies will also inform people visiting Dublin to stay away from the statue and not touch it.

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Dublin City Council Arts Officer Ray Yeates said the inappropriate touching has caused "worry and discomfort". Besides, when people get on the plinth to touch the statue, it raises safety concerns since it might shift the statue from its place a little, making it unstable.

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"For some people, this is just part of their tourist experience. For other people, it seems inappropriate, particularly where the statue is being touched, and for some people, that's quite a serious issue. And to be honest, I'm inclined to agree," Yeates said.

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Hiring stewards will cost the council a lot of money, but Yeates says it is way less than what it would cost to raise the platform of the statue. 

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He added that, overall, the aim is to stop people from touching works of art entirely, installed either inside or outside.

Why do people rub Molly Malone statue?

No one knows for sure when did the so-called "tradition" of rubbing the statue's chest area for good luck started. However, the most common consensus is that tour guides are responsible for the practice. People say that either one guide or several of them started it in 2012, telling people how doing so will bring them good luck. 

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Such practices are quite common in several popular tourist areas. People throw coins in the Trevi Fountain in Rome for good luck, tossing it in over the left shoulder with the right hand. Similarly, in Paris, the "love lock bridge" has couples put locks on it as a symbol of their love. Officially known as the Pont des Arts, the bridge is now lock-free after the practice ended in 2015 because of the damage the excess weight caused to the bridge.

The person who started the chest rubbing "tradition" for good luck at the Molly Malone statue seems to have sought inspiration from such places.

Who was Molly Malone?

Molly Malone is part of a song set in Dublin, Ireland, that tells the story of a woman who was a fishmonger and died young because of cholera. The song has become the city's unofficial anthem. The statue was designed by Dublin artist Jeanne Rynhart and was unveiled in 1988. 

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However, Dublin City Historian in Residence Catherine Scuffil told RTE that there is growing evidence that Molly Malone was not a fictional character but a real person who lived the Liberties area of Dublin. "Poor Molly doesn't deserve it. Think for a minute what she represents to us. She's an image of our city. She represents the people of our city," she said.

"But more importantly, she represents the women of our city. So maybe we shouldn't be treating her quite the way we are at the moment," she added.

Catherine is related to the sculptor Jeanne Rynhart and says the low neckline depicts the fashion of the time. Rynhart is now dead, and Catherine says if she knew people were groping the statue, she must be "doing a little spin, because that's certainly not what she intended when she made the statue."