Patrick Pearse

Artist Leo Broe (1899 - 1966)

Date1932

MediumMarble

Dimensions46 x 41 x 10.5 cm

ClassificationsSculpture

Credit LineCollection & image © Hugh Lane Gallery. Donated by Aonac na Nodlag for Thomas Kelly T.C., T.D., 1933. © The Estate of Leo Broe.

Object number701

DescriptionLike Patrick Pearse (1879-1916), Leo Broe was a member of the Irish Volunteers which was formed in 1913. Broe’s oeuvre is characterised by ecclesiastical work and by many monuments to Irish republicans located throughout the country. Patrick Pearse’s father James was a sculptor who had come to Ireland from England to work. Pearse studied law and while called to the Bar, never practiced. He was deeply interested in Irish language and culture and became the editor of An Claidheamh Soluis (The Sword of Light), the newspaper of The Gaelic League. While initially a cultural nationalist, Pearse’s views became increasingly more inclined towards physical force republicanism and social revolution. The 1913 Lockout had a significant impact on his thinking and Pearse wrote an economic critique of British rule, citing the high rent paid by those living in dire tenement conditions in Dublin in contrast to those living in cities in Britain. In this he found common ground with James Connolly who three years later on 24 April 1916 was Commandant of the Dublin Brigade during the Easter Rising. Of the Lockout and the role of James Larkin, Patrick Pearse said: ‘I do not know whether the methods of Mr James Larkin are wise methods or unwise methods (unwise, I think, in some respects), but this I know, that here is a most hideous wrong to be righted, and that the man who attempts honestly to right it is a good man and a brave man.’ (JO'D)

On View

Not on view