A NORTHSIDE history buff has published his first book detailing the life and work of Dublin propaganda cartoonist Ernest Kavanagh.
James Curry, from East Wall, launched
‘Artist of the Revolution – The Cartoons of Ernest Kavanagh (1884-1916)’ in Liberty Hall, a fitting tribute to Kavanagh who worked in and died outside the union headquarters.
It’s the debut novel from Mr Curry who first came across Kavanagh’s work in Trinity College while working on his History thesis.
“His work formed a chapter of my thesis but I really wanted to delve into his life and work a bit more which is where the idea for the book came from,
? James told Northside People.
“Some of his cartoons had already been used in books but Kavanagh who was completely unknown even though he was actually a very important and influential propaganda cartoonist in the early 1900s.
“His hard-hitting and political illustrations were frequently used in Irish Labour, nationalist and suffrage newspapers.
“At that time cartoons were ideal for propaganda purposes as they could be manipulated for an agenda in ways that a photograph never could.
?
The original Kavanagh cartoon provides a fascinating pictorial record of an Ireland filled with protest and social unrest during the Dublin Lock-Out, First World War and the lead-up to the Easter Rising.
Ernest Cavanagh championed the rights of Ireland’s working class during the 1913 Dublin Lock-Out when his illustrations depicted William Martin Murphy and the Dublin Metropolitan Police as murderous monsters.
In the year that it took to compile the book, James spent much of his time trawling through old newspaper archives in the National Library.
He also delved in to the life of Kavanagh, a native of Wentworth Place near Holles Street.
“He was a clerk of the Irish Rail Transport and General Workers’ Union based in Liberty Hall and it was outside those offices where he was killed on Easter Tuesday 1916.
“His family thought that he was shot by a British sniper but I have a theory that he went to Liberty Hall that day to offer his services as a combatant because he felt guilty for not fighting in the rebellion in the days prior.
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‘Artist of the Revolution’ was launched earlier this month in Liberty Hall with the help of radio presenter Joe Duffy and SIPTU who kindly facilitated the launch in the union headquarters.
The author, James Curry, left school at 16-years-of-age and returned to education four years later.
Since then he has gone on to earn a BA and M.Phil history degrees at Trinity College Dublin, where he was awarded a scholarship. He hopes to start a PHD in September.
‘Artist of the Revolution – The Cartoons of Ernest Kavanagh (1884-1916)’, published by Mercier Press, is available from all good bookstores and is priced at
?¬10.99.