Sculpture at coin scale
Birds, relief and an Irish silver medal
Gabriel Hayes (1909–1978) was an Irish sculptor, painter and designer whose relief work included architectural sculpture, plaques, medals and coinage. The Kildare Libraries account places her renewed sculpture career in the early 1940s and records her later work in medals.
Hayes was commissioned to design three new denominations for decimalisation in 1971: the halfpenny, penny and twopence. Their ornamental birds draw on details in Irish illuminated manuscripts. These circulating decimal coins are a record of her design work; they should not be assumed to be silver.
A 1972 Franklin Mint advertisement identifies Gabriel Hayes O’Riordan as the designer and sculptor of a silver St. Patrick’s Day medal and describes the private mint as producer and distributor. The advertisement documents the announced issue; it does not independently establish how many were made.
From the museum collection
A silver medal and three small coins
Keep the design, the material and the organization responsible for each issue distinct.
The St. Patrick medal
The 1972 Franklin Mint advertisement describes a proof-quality St. Patrick medal made of .999 fine Irish silver, presented with a postmarked cachet. It credits Hayes O’Riordan with designing and sculpting the medal, and says the Franklin Mint would strike it in the United States.
Compare an example against a documented issue and ask for clear photographs of both faces and edge, its dimensions, condition and any original cachet or certificate. The advertisement describes the planned product; it does not by itself establish the identity or composition of an unexamined object.
Decimal coin designs
For the new ½p, 1p and 2p, Hayes designed ornamental birds related to Irish manuscript decoration. The Central Bank says the precise manuscript source is unknown; do not present a specific Book of Kells motif as confirmed.
These coins help trace Hayes’s work in miniature relief, but the silver St. Patrick medal is the better documented silver example in this study.
Names & chapters
How the story developed.
- Early 1940s
Architectural commissions
Hayes resumed her sculpture career with commissions for Dublin buildings.
- 1971
Decimal coinage
Her three new designs entered Ireland’s decimal coinage.
- 1972
Silver St. Patrick medal
A contemporary advertisement describes a silver medal designed and sculpted by Hayes.
Follow an interest
What to explore.
Historical profile based on institutional scholarship, the Central Bank and a period advertisement. No medal or coin was physically examined or authenticated.
Check the details
Before you buy.
Follow the evidence from design to the specific issue in hand.
Open the references
Research this name.
- Central Bank of Ireland
Read the Irish coin history
See Hayes’s decimal denominations and their design context.
- Kildare Libraries biography
Read the sculptor’s biography
Explore Hayes’s sculpture and silver medal.
- Collect Silver guide
Compare Franklin Mint ornaments
See another type of object associated with the private mint.
- Collect Silver profile
Explore the Franklin Mint
Distinguish the historical mint and the individual artist.
Sources & further reading
- Old Irish coins Central Bank of Ireland · Coin designs and decimalisation
- Gabriel Hayes, sculptor and artist Kildare Libraries · Local history biography and silver medal series
- The first annual St. Patrick’s Day medal and commemorative cachet The Franklin Mint advertisement in The Criterion, February 11, 1972 · Contemporary advertisement: artist, proposed composition and production
The Central Bank and Kildare Libraries document Hayes’s work; a period advertisement records the 1972 medal’s announced production. Sources checked November 14, 2026.