The Tipperary Hurler

Artist Seán Keating (1889 - 1977)

Date1928

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions91.5 x 76 cm

ClassificationsPaintings

Credit LineCollection & image © Hugh Lane Gallery. Donated by Patric Farrell, 1956. © The Estate of Seán Keating.

Object number1070

DescriptionIn the years after the emergence of the Irish Free State Seán Keating painted a series of images that advertised both his obvious skill and his belief in the ability of the Irish people to self-govern at every level. In 1925 the by then famous Tipperary team won the all Ireland hurling final at Croke Park in Dublin. It was a symbolic game in a stadium that held extraordinary political significance for the Irish people. Keating was always interested to paint emerging history and thus he made sure to be present for the final that day. The Tipperary team was replete with hurling stars and none shone more brightly than the man from Ballerk, John Joe Hayes. According to Hayes family tradition, Keating sketched John Joe as he left the field on the day of the final. The artist evidently had in mind to paint a heroic image that would capture the mood of the day. However, at that time Keating was completing a series of ten paintings for a special colour edition of The Playboy of the Western World which had been commissioned by the Synge family. Thus his sketches of John Joe were left to one side, but not forgotten. It was not long afterwards the Ben O'Hickey, also from Tipperary, joined the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art as a student under Keating. O'Hickey had been a founder member of the Bansha branch of the IRA and had served time in prison in England. Fortuitously O'Hickey looked uncannily like John Joe Hayes. He even had a similar mop of strong dark hair. Keating saw his opportunity to finish the project that he had begun on the field in 1925. Thus The Tipperary Hurler is essentially a composite of both John Joe Hayes and Ben O'Hickey, painted to advertise the artist's ability and conviction at home and abroad. The artist sincerely believed in the ability of the people of the new Irish Free State and in this instance the model in The Tipperary Hurler is virile, strong and independent. Even the title is evocative of ancient Irish history and myth. The Ossianic hurler stares straight out at the viewer, his eyes mirrored in the storm clouds rumbling in the background. The hurling stick is laid to rest, held down by strong, sinewy, and inherently well-worked hands. It is as if the ash might be raised at any time against the onslaught of the opposing team, but the might of mind keeps it in check.

The painting is one of a series of images that Keating painted in the 1920s that are emblematic of his belief in the citizens of Ireland, one of which is Race of the Gael (1928) (NGI) which also features Ben O'Hickey as a model.

Dr Éimear O'Connor. triarc-Irish Art Research Centre, Trinity College Dublin

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