A video of a group of tourists groping the Molly Malone statue’s breasts in Dublin, Ireland, has sparked a heated debate about the appropriateness of touching statues “for good luck.”

Shared by @beyoncegarden on X (formerly Twitter), the video shows six men and a woman taking turns to touch the bronze artwork in the Irish capital. One of them, wearing a St. Patrick’s Day hat, stands behind the sculpture and grabs its breasts with both hands.

“This is so weird and disgusting like it’s just sad,” the user captioned the clip, which has been viewed over 48 million times.

A video showing tourists groping the Molly Malone statue’s breasts in Dublin has gone viral

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According to the BBC, the statue of Molly Malone was erected in 1988 in tribute to a woman who sold shellfish in the streets of Dublin.

Molly Malone also inspired a traditional folk song about a fishmonger’s daughter who sold cockles and mussels from a wheelbarrow. In the song, Molly succumbs to a fever and later returns as a ghost, wheeling her wheelbarrow through the city’s streets.

Though it’s unclear whether she actually existed, Molly Malone has become a symbol of Dublin’s working class.

The statue, designed in 1988, honors Molly Malone, a fishmonger’s daughter from a traditional Irish folk song

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Over the years, an urban myth emerged that claimed that touching the statue’s breast

would bring “the luck of the Irish.” This practice was later advertised by tourism companies, which said those who touched Molly Malone’s breasts would return to the city.

The large bronze statue has been groped so many times that its breasts have become discolored.

This behavior is also popular in other European cities, including at the statue of Shakespeare’s Juliet Capulet in Verona, Italy.

Over time, an urban myth emerged that claimed that touching the Dublin statue’s breasts brings good fortune

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While some critics considered the practice offensive and disrespectful to Irish culture, others argued that those who engaged in it contributed to the objectification of women.

“This is too much. Not even a statue is safe today?” wrote one netizen. Another said the touching was “definitely weird and a little creepy.”

“Bro, this is a whole new level of loneliness,” someone else chimed in.

Another user believed the issue was being blown out of proportion. “Yes, this is degenerate behavior…but I honestly don’t think this is as deep as people make it out to be..”

Someone else penned: “People will moan about anything nowadays.”

Though there’s no proof that she actually existed, the figure of Molly Malone symbolizes the working class in Dublin

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Others stressed that the practice was inappropriate, regardless of the gender of the figure the sculpture depicts.

“To be fair, there is a statue of a man where women go and rub on the statue’s crotch for fertility,” one user commented, to which another replied, “Baby, they’re ALL weird.”

The statue, first erected in Dublin’s Grafton Street, was created by Irish bronze sculptor Jeanne Rynhart.

It was later moved to nearby St. Andrews’ Street to accommodate the construction of a tram line, as per the BBC.

Student Tilly Cripwell launched the “Leave Molly mAlone” campaign in February 2024, urging the Dublin City Council to raise the sculpture onto a higher plinth

 

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A post shared by Tilly (@tilly_cripwell)

“I believe the groping of the sculpture is misogynistic, I fail to see how anyone could not,” Dr. Catherine Lawless, from the History of Art and Architecture Department at Trinity College Dublin, told Bored Panda.

“Groping of breasts of passive women who cannot consent is surely not a practice to be encouraged.

“Like most cities, Dublin has very few public figurative sculptures of actual women, only mythical, religious ones, or allegorical ones,” Dr. Lawless continued.

“I think the sculpture of Molly as s*x object is unnecessary and constructed very much from within and for the male gaze. I view it as a failed intervention of the possibilities of female power in a public space.”

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She added: “Michelangelo’s David is, to my mind, also conceived as erotic. If it were at ground level, given the popularity of images and paraphernalia about his backside and pen*s, it would probably be groped too. “

As the power relations between men and women are different, Dr. Lawless said she would view a woman groping Michelangelo’s David as “vulgar, but not dangerous.”

Many online users criticized the practice, calling it “weird” and “creepy” and arguing it objectified women

this is so weird and disgusting like it’s just sad pic.twitter.com/M4OFLPFL9P

— 𝗱𝗮𝗻𝗻𝘆🫧💚 (@beyoncegarden) March 17, 2025

Tilly Cripwell, a 23-year-old student at Trinity College and a singer who performs on the streets of Dublin, launched a campaign, Leave Molly mAlone, in February 2024 for the Dublin City Council to repair the discolored statue and elevate it onto a higher plinth to discourage people from touching it.

“The fact that this icon is immortalized in a statue but reduced to her breasts just seems so wrong,” she said, adding that the behavior “sets a really bad example to younger generations.

“It triggered me so much, I just had to put a stop to it.”

Cripwell said the groping annoys her because the sculpture is “one of the few representations of women in Irish culture.”

Unlike the statues of male figures in Dublin, which are “all on high platforms reflecting their status,” this Dublin landmark is on a small plinth.

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According to Cripwell, many visitors view the statue’s “allegedly busty dress” as “a green card” for groping its breasts.

The campaigner said: “You can imagine the stag dos that come along, and it’s actually just disgusting behavior, no matter what kind of object or person you’re dealing with.

“It’s reducing her to this derision and not giving her the status of being a national treasure.”

A Dublin City Council spokeswoman stated that Cripwell’s request for restoring the statue and “securing the plinth” is being considered.

She added that a report on this issue will be made to the council’s Strategic Policy Committee in April.

People were divided over the tourist tradition in the Irish capital

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