Jeanne Rynhart obituary: Gifted sculptor who created the Molly Malone statue

Born: March 17th, 1946 
Died: June 9th, 2020

Jeanne Rynhart (nee Scuffil), the Dublin-born sculptor whose work includes the Molly Malone statue in Dublin, the Annie Moore statues in Cobh, Co Cork, and on Ellis Island, New York, and the commemorative statue of the first Rose of Tralee, Mary O’Connor in Tralee, Co Kerry, has died following a short illness.

Rynhart, a graduate in fine art from the National College of Art and Design, established the successful Rynhart Fine Art Bronze business with her husband, Derek, near Bantry, Co Cork, in the early 1980s.

Jeanne worked hard to put herself through college, graduating in 1969. She met engineer, Derek Rynhart – who had returned from New Zealand to visit family in Ireland – while she was still at college

One of the first bronze craft studios in Ireland, the Rynhart pieces included both small figurative cold cast bronze sculptures of flower sellers, fishermen, horses, sailing boats and musical instruments as well as the bronze life-size statues, smelted in a foundry. Her busts of Oscar Wilde and Jonathan Swift are in the Dublin Writer’s Museum and a Rynhart bust of James Joyce is in New York City Library.

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Rynhart’s Molly Malone statue was created in 1988 for the Dublin Millennium celebrations. The Annie Moore statues at Cobh and on Ellis Island commemorate the first passenger processed through the Ellis Island immigration station on January 1st, 1892. In 1993, then president Mary Robinson attended the special dedication ceremony of the sculpture which depicts Moore stepping off the gangplank, holding a small suitcase in one hand. The sister statue at Cobh, includes Moore’s two brothers.

Jeanne Scuffil was the youngest of four children, born to Kathleen and Frederick Scuffil in the Liberties, Dublin. Her father – who died when Jeanne was in her late teens – was a signwriter for Guinness and made props for film sets. Her mother was a keen knitter and crochet maker.

Jeanne worked hard to put herself through college, graduating in 1969. She met engineer, Derek Rynhart – who had returned from New Zealand to visit family in Ireland – while she was still at college. The couple married in their early 20s and moved to the Dublin suburb of Clontarf. Their daughter, Audrey, was born in 1969.

Later that year, the Rynharts moved to Coventry in England with Jeanne’s mother, her two brothers and their wives to live near where her eldest brother had settled. Their son, Barry, was born there in 1970.

While in England, Rynhart painted in pastel and oils, sharing a studio with bronze sculptor John Letts, who encouraged her to start sculpting in bronze. Her first pieces were bronze depictions of birds of prey which she sold to high-end gift shops in the Lake District and along the west coast of England and Wales. At this time, Rynhart was invited to become a member of the Royal Society of Portrait Sculptors.

Jeanne and Derek Rynhart and their two children moved back to live in Ballylickey, near Bantry, in the 1980s. They set up a studio at the back of the house where Rynhart made the original models in clay and her husband made the moulds and hand cast each piece. Exhibiting at the annual Showcase craft fair in Dublin, the Rynhart sculptures became popular in high-end gift and jewellery shops across Ireland. The couple expanded production, setting up a larger facility which employed 10 people.

The business then moved to the newly built Bantry Enterprise Centre until a catastrophic fire destroyed all the work in the winter of 1996. Undeterred, Jeanne and Derek Rynhart worked in a temporary studio while they bought and renovated Drimoleague Mill to house a gallery and coffee shop, employing 28 people.

Described by family as a modest, shy, understated person, Rynhart loved animals – cats in particular – and was a loyal friend

In 1992, their son, Barry, took on the role of selling the sculptures around Ireland and in 1994, their daughter, Audrey, a graduate of Limerick Art College, joined the business. With orders coming in from Ireland and America and all the family on board, the business continued to thrive.

In 2010, Audrey and her husband, Les Elliot, took over the running of the business which is now based in their studio in Glengarriff, west Cork. From then onwards, Rynhart continued to do some modelling work but had largely retired.

Described by family as a modest, shy, understated person, Rynhart loved animals – cats in particular – and was a loyal friend. With her husband , she enjoyed the company of good friends and travelled widely, visiting places as far as Cuba and China. A genteel and well-liked figure in west Cork, she also did a lot of charity work for Rehab Bantry, the Crumlin Hospital Children’s Research Centre, the Chernobyl Children’s Project and CoAction West Cork, a support organisation for children and adults with intellectual disabilities.

Jeanne Rynhart is survived by her husband, Derek, daughter, Audrey, son, Barry, and grandchildren, Lydia and Sophie.