The warrior and the wife: imagining the Irish homeland in the illustrations of John Campbell

Abstract

Between 1904 and 1912 Belfast artist John Campbell produced some of the most remarkable political illustrations of the Irish Revival which are largely unstudied in spite of their notable quality and appearance in some of the foremost periodicals of the day. This article examines several of Campbell's most interesting nationalist works and discusses his depictions of warriors that defend the homeland and wives who nurture Irish culture and tradition. These gendered, folkloric characters aid Campbell in constructing an Ireland he sees as capable of nationhood: one with strong ties to history, whose culture is celebrated, and that inspires strong allegiances amongst its people. Through his illustrations, Campbell makes visual the thematic paradigms of the Irish Revival and demonstrates the importance of the arts in fighting the political battles of the age.

Keywords::

• Irish Revival
• John Campbell
• nationalism
• political cartoon
• periodicals
• illustration

Acknowledgements

I am grateful to Simon and Julian Campbell for giving this research their blessing and for allowing the publication of illustrations by their relative, John Campbell.

Notes

^1.Hyde, “The Necessity for De-Anglicising Ireland,” 115–61.

^2.Ibid.

^3. The only significant work on Campbell is an article by Larmour, “John Campbell (1883–1962) an Artist of the Irish Revival.” This includes a partial catalogue of Campbell's illustrations, but omits Campbell's remarkable illustrations for the covers of The New Age, which appeared between 1909 and 1910. A few pages on Campbell, particularly his work on the Irish Historic Pageant, are provided in Ryan, “Performing Irish-American Heritage.” A short entry appears in the art bibliography by Snoddy, “John P. Campbell 1883–1962: Black and White Decorative Illustrator.” The one contemporary source that focuses on Campbell's career is Dawson, “An Illustrator of Celtic Romance.” Campbell's work is reproduced over three pages in Salaman, “Modern Book Illustrators and their Work.”

^4.Dawson, “An Illustrator of Celtic Romance,” 38.

^5.Ibid.

^6.Ibid.

^7.Mathews, Revival, 8.

^8.Hirsch, “The Imaginary Irish Peasant,” 1123–4.

^9.Mathews, Revival, 8.

^10.Douglas, Harte, and O'Hara, Drawing Conclusions, 128.

^11.Barrett, “Irish Nationalism and Art 1800–1921,” 399. Barrett notes that Irish Revival visual artists were more often than not associated with the literary revival. For example, the paintings by George Russell (AE) were merely “a visual extension of his writing” (399).

^12.Sheehy, The Rediscovery of Ireland's Past, 188.

^13.Ibid., 95.

^14.Ibid., 96.

^15.Patterson, “Crafting a National Identity,” 108.

^16.Ibid., 106.

^17. See, for example, Curtis, Apes and Angels, and Ewan Morris, Our Own Devices.

^18. See, for example, Douglas, Harte, and O'Hara, Drawing Conclusions, and Killen, The Unkindest Cut.

^19. Excepting Jack Butler Yeats, who has received considerable attention – although his literary work has received perhaps more. See, for example, Pyle, The Different Worlds of Jack Butler Yeats.

^20.Hobson, Ireland Yesterday and Tomorrow, i.

^21.Atkinson, “Literary Causerie,” 253.

^22.Bigger, “Art and Culture in Old Belfast,” 12.

^23.MacCathmhaoil, “Caomeann Pádraic Mór Mac Cruimin.”

^24.Ibid. Thanks to Girvan McKay for this translation and information on the poem.

^25. For further information on Carbery, see repeated references in Catherine Morris, Alice Milligan and the Irish Cultural Revival.

^26.Carbery, Songs from the Four Winds of Eirinn, 4.

^27. See, for example, Innes, Woman and Nation in Irish Literature and Society, 1880–1935. Innes argues that the personification of Ireland as a peasant woman was a means of counteracting and reversing the colonising tool of imperialists whereby colonial subjects were depicted as feminine. For Irish writers to embrace a feminine representation of their country was to evade this form of disempowerment.

^28.Carbery, The Four Winds of Eirinn, 150–1, 159.

^29.Ibid., 159.

^30.Ibid., 150–1.

^31.Saunders and Kelly, Joseph Campbell, 22.

^32.Colum, Wild Earth and Other Poems, 33.

^33.Hirsch, “The Imaginary Irish Peasant,” 1130.