The definitive answer to the question Whatever Happened to King Kong is stated here and is as previously stated by a number of members. Sadly it appears he never visited Ireland:
King Kong
Modelled on the fictional giant gorilla King Kong, the 550 cm (18 ft)-tall, 890 kg (1,960 lb) fibreglass statue was commissioned for display in Birmingham, by the Peter Stuyvesant for the Sculpture for Public Places Scheme "City Sculpture", in partnership with the Arts Council of Great Britain.
It was constructed at the artist's studio at Hungerford. Munro's brief was to make something "city orientated" and he chose King Kong because of his association with New York and "for my own petty reasons".
After the statue had been on display in Manzoni Gardens for six months, Birmingham City Council was offered the opportunity to purchase the work, but decided not to retain it, and so later in 1972, it was sold for £2,000 to a local used-car dealer, Mike Shanley, who changed the name of his dealership to King Kong Car Co and displayed the statue at his sales lot on the A34 Stratford Road, next to the former Holy Trinity church in the Camp Hill area of the city. While there, it was dressed up as Father Christmas in season. It is likely that a subsequent owner of the statue and lot was a Mr Racey.
By 1976, the King Kong statue had moved to a new location on Ladypool Road, Sparkbrook, close to the Clifton Road junction. It stood at the rear face of the Clifton public house. It was still being used to advertise a King Kong cars dealership at this location.
Edinburgh
The statue in Edinburgh in March 2005, painted pink
In 1976, it was sold for £12,700 to Nigel Maby's Scottish company Spook Erection Ltd and displayed at Ingliston Market in Edinburgh. During that period, it was falsely reported destroyed and repainted several times, including once in Tartan and, in 2001, in shocking pink. Before removal from Edinburgh on the closure of that market in 2005, the statue suffered damage by vandals to its back, and a broken arm, requiring repair.
Penrith
The repaired and repainted statue was seen at Penrith, in April 2008
It was subsequently displayed at Skirsgill Auction Mart, a market site in Penrith, and was still there in January 2011 albeit lying down, in a car park near its former position. There were calls for it to be returned to Birmingham, but the owner, Lesley Maby (wife of the late Nigel), refused to sell it
From the Birmingham Mail Birmingham Mail 25 April 2012
The owner of King Kong has again offered to donate the giant ape’s statue back to Birmingham – if the council handed over the running of the retail markets.
Cumbria-based Lesley Maby said the legendary ape could return to his spiritual home near the Bull Ring but made it clear the deal hinged on her longstanding desire to run a market in the city.
Mrs Maby has offered to meet Birmingham City Council officials to discuss a deal for Kong, who is currently lying discarded flat on his back in a Penrith car park next to Spook’s headquarters.
But her suggestion has already been cold-shouldered by stallholders, who said they didn’t want privatisation of the market at any price.
Mrs Maby, who runs markets operator Spook Erections, said: “I would be prepared to bring King Kong back to Birmingham if the local authority allowed me to operate the market”.