View of Drogheda

View of Drogheda is a view from the Millmount, looking westwards up the river, with the town of Drogheda on the right and the townside wall at St John Street and the rear of St John’s Gate visible. The imposing building on the left, with fortifications and look-out turrets, once housed the British Army. Through the distant haze we can see the white obelisk, an important commemoration of King William III’s victory at the Battle of the Boyne just over sixty years earlier and of the death of the death of Friedrich Hermann, 1st Duke of Schomberg, who was killed during the course of the battle. This stood 30m tall on a 10m-high out-crop of rock (which was subsequently destroyed in a bomb attack in 1922). Visible beyond the barracks is Ball’s Grove, and to the right, on the northern bank of the river, the ruined abbey and hospital of St Mary d’Urso, destroyed in the dissolution of the monasteries. Also depicted is the elegant facade of Alderman Barlow’s House and Gardens, and the adjoining West Gate. As befits a neo-classical scene, every detail is idyllic: families walk in the groves, and a leisure boat glides into the harbour on tranquil water.