Ada Lovelace

This portrait of Ada Lovelace was commissioned by Trinity College Dublin Art Collections after an international competition was held for the creation of four female scholar busts to be placed in the Long Room of the Old Library - a space that up until now has only housed representations of male scholars. There was a vote held on campus to select which female scholars to represent and it was decided that the busts of Ada Lovelace, Mary Wollstonecraft, Augusta Gregory and Rosalind Franklin would be added to the Long Room.

I was selected to represent Ada Lovelace (apparently the holder of most votes!). I wanted to create a bust that would not interfere visually with the incredible impact of the row of marble busts that line the central corridor of the Long Room and I felt that anything but marble would be inappropriate. I chose to produce her in white statuary marble sourced from Carrara, Italy. I made a clay model which, once approved, was then digitally scanned and cut from a marble block by CNC router, after which I finished the surface details by hand. Using modern computer-aided techniques to facilitate the carving process enabled me to complete the project on time but also had a nice synchronicity with Ada's invention of the first computer algorithm.

The four new busts (Ada Lovelace, Mary Wollstonecraft, Augusta Gregory and Rosalind Franklin) were unveiled on St Brigid's Day February 1st 2023 by TCD's first female librarian Helen Shenton, its first female Provost Linda Doyle and by the former President of Ireland and now TCD chancellor Mary McAleese. It was a spine-tingling event of great import, you could literally feel the winds of change raising the hairs on the backs of our necks as we all stood there in the hallowed hall. Things would never be the same.

The library will be closed at the end of 2025 for several years for a long overdue renovation but the new female busts will continue to be displayed in the Long Room until then. To access the Old Library you will need to buy a ticket (which includes the Book of Kells Experience).

Year sculpted: 2023.