Edmund Fitzpatrick 1822-1896

Ned Kennedy (RIP)

My name is Ned Kennedy and I would like to tell you about the artist and illustrator, Edmund Fitzpatrick. The bicentenary of the birth of artist and illustrator, Edmund Fitzpatrick was celebrated in 2022. He was born in Freshford and was baptised on 24th of February 1822 in St. Lachtain's Church. His parents were William Fitzpatrick and Alice Scully. William was a member of the Fitzpatrick family of Coolcashin House in Gathabawn.
Edmund registered as a pupil at the Royal Dublin Society's school of art in 1841. Eight months later he took first place in "paintings in oil" for which he won a El prize.
This painting is still in the possession of Edmund's family. He also won a second prize of 10 shillings, specially put up by Dublin Zoo, for his drawings of animals, an interest Edmund retained throughout his life. He was also a prize winner in 1843. Following his success at art school, Edmund produced a fine painting from that period which is now on display at Kilkenny Castle. It depicts the homecoming of John Butler, Second Marquis (Markwiss) of Ormonde and his new bride, Frances Jane Paget, who returned to Kilkenny city on Monday, September 27, 1843 following their marriage in England.
The scene depicted suggests that the artist may have had a vantage point on the upper floors of the Victoria Hotel (now the AIB premises) which he also used to capture a similar crowd on the sadder occasion of the funeral of the Marquis only eleven years later. This painting too is on view at Kilkenny Castle.
On December 16, 1848 a page of the Illustrated London News included two prints by Edmund Fitzpatrick from famine-stricken Ireland. In Atlas of the Great Irish Famine, published in 2012, one of these illustrations is described as “probably the best known and most accurate depiction of the horrors of eviction during the Great Famine.”; These are the first illustrations by Edmund that have been found in the Illustrated London News. He continued to illustrate for this newspaper until at least 1864.
In September 1849, the Kilkenny Moderator began to follow Edmund’s career. A report referred to a drawing, titled "An Irish Harvest Home" which appeared in the Illustrated London News on which was noted the signature of Mr. E. Fitzpatrick of Freshford”a young man whose promising talents we had before occasion to notice and whose rapid development as a national artist of the right school we are glad to record”.
In 1850 Edmund submitted a painting for the first time to the annual exhibition of the Royal Hibernian Academy of the Arts in Dublin. He had a long association with the Academy and continued to exhibit with them until 1877.

One of the most important aspects of Edmund's legacy is the illustrations of political gatherings in Kilkenny city such as the drawing of a meeting of the Tenant League which took place in Kilkenny on Wednesday, September 25, 1850. The illustration is of the crowd in front of the Court House. This area too proved a popular vantage point for Edmund as he would later use it on at least three more occasions to draw illustrations of public meetings outside the Court House.
On February 12, 1853 Edmund made the front page of the Illustrated London News with the drawing An Irish Petty Sessions showing a crowd gathered for court hearings. There are two versions of this illustration available, one of which proclaims it to be Freshford PettySessions.
On March 19, 1853 Edmund's illustration DROWNING THE SHAMROCK ON ST. PATRICK'S NIGHT appeared in the Illustrated London News. Edmund indulged in a bit of nostalgia with this drawing when labelling the beer barrel on the bottom right of the illustration as "Smithwick's Porter." In 1856 Edmund exhibited for the first time with the Royal Society of British Artists (RBA) in London. Thus began a long association with this society which lasted until 1870.
On Saturday, January 24, 1857 Edmund had a full page of the Illustrated London News all to himself with two drawings. The top one is a pleasant rural scene depicting families returning from market. It includes a round tower so it could be the Steeple of Fertagh situated in the parish of Galmoy. This possibility is supported by the fact that Edmund sent a painting of the steeple of Fertagh to the Royal Hibernian Academy a few years later.
The second illustration is an altogether different picture depicting a debate between two rival hedge schoolmasters surrounded by their respective supporters. The scene of battle is a public house and to show Edmund's support of all things native, this time the supplier of the barrel of porter in the picture is Sullivan's Brewery of Kilkenny.
In 1857 Edmund's reputation was undoubtedly added to when his portrait of the Kilkenny-born novelist John Banim appeared as the frontispiece in a biography of Banim written by Patrick Joseph Murray.
On November 10, 1858 in an advertisement in the local papers announcing his availability to "the Nobility and Gentry of the County to execute any commissions . . . . . with which he may be honoured during his short stay in the country." He is described as "Artist, lately of Paris and London, now residing at Freshford." (And did we ever think we would see those three distinguished places of the arts named in the same sentence?) Of course, this also suggests that he may have a body of work hanging on the walls of private homes or galleries in Paris waiting to be discovered.

There are two Fitzpatrick paintings of the Bryan family of Jenkinstown in hunting scenes, included in the book Hunting in County Kilkenny which may date from this time. Perhaps it was also around this time too that Edmund painted the GRATTAN- BELLEW KENNELS which is the only known painting of Edmund’s now in Freshford. Later that year in December, in fact on the last day of the year, a further depiction of Irish life was shown in the drawing of the IRISH FAIRY DOCTOR in the Illustrated London News.
Could Edmund have been drawing from personal experience when he drew these representations of local Irish characters? The answer is yes because in 1846 a report appeared in the local newspaper of a case in Freshford when an unqualified doctor, Mr. Quigley, was treating a patient in Freshford and the newspapers warned "of quacks and imposters who prowl the country." It is also possible that the earlier illustration of the feuding hedge schoolmasters was also based around a local court case in 1846; so perhaps both these drawings confirm Edmund’s presence in Freshford at that time, making observations of the comings and goings of rural life to be used later in his illustrations.
That illustration took Edmund up to the last day of the year in 1859. Tumultuous events had taken place in Europe throughout the latter half of that year. There was widespread coverage of these events in the newspapers from the outset so Edmund was undoubtedly aware of them but he hardly imagined that they would lead indirectly, the following year, to his getting, what could be called, the most extraordinary commission of his career.
In May 1859 France, under Napoleon III, declared war on Austria. Patrice MacMahon, a descendant of one of the Wild Geese, was one of Napoleon’s generals. He deserves a study in his own right but for now we acknowledge him as the man who saved Napoleon’s bacon at the decisive Battle of Magenta on June 4, 1859 after which he was promoted to the highest available rank and was henceforth known as Marshal MacMahon, Duke of Magenta. His fame spread across Europe and to say he was eulogised in the Irish media would not be an exaggeration. In particular, The Nation newspaper, published in Dublin, wrote highly of his exploits on the battlefield and posed the question: Will Ireland do nothing to show that she rejoices in his glory”
The newspaper went on to answer its own question by establishing a fund for the purpose of presenting the hero with a sword of honour, ” believing that to be the most fitting form of testimonial to a gallant soldier….”
An advertisement inviting designs for the sword was published in October 1859 with a prize of ten pounds for the winning design. The closing date for submissions was December 1, 1859. Edmund Fitzpatrick submitted a design and won the competition. Little did Edmund realise what he was letting himself in for as a debate began on both sides of the Irish Sea regarding the merits or otherwise of the enterprise. A line

from a letter of support in The Nation newspaper dated, of all days, July 12, 1859 read: We feel great pleasure in responding to your appeal for a testimonial to Marshal MacMahon, Duke of Magenta; ….We give him a sword — let him read its meaning ” Such sentiments were not welcome in Whitehall or Westminster; nevertheless, the magnificent sword was duly manufactured and presented to Marshal McMahon at a ceremony in Paris in September 1860. Incidentally, Marshall Patrice MacMahon later served as president of France from 1875-1879 during the Third French Republic.
Today the sword can be seen in the McMahon archive.
Also in 1860 Edmund undertook another new enterprise when he illustrated a book for William Carleton, one of Ireland's most renowned nineteenth century writers and novelists. The book was reviewed in October in a London newspaper The Era which said: “This romance is illustrated with great spirit and fancy by Mr. Edmund Fitzpatrick.”
In 1861 and 1862 Edmund supplied illustrations for a newspaper called The Illustrated Dublin Journal. Duffys were the publishers and it was sometimes referred to as Duffy 's Illustrated Journal. Edmund was actually responsible for the banner on the front page and his signature is clearly seen in the bottom left corner.
In 1862 Edmund was elected an Associate of the Royal Hibernian Academy. He retained this status with the Academy until 1883. From then, until the end of his life,
his name appears followed by the letters A.R.H.A.
In 1863 another illustration of a Kilkenny scene was published in the Illustrated London News and we know exactly where Edmund was standing when he drew it ! The Royal Agricultural Show was held in Kilkenny at the end of August 1863. It was presided over by the Lord Lieutenant whose arrival at the venue, the Fair Green, was the subject of Edmund's drawing. The illustration appeared in the ILN on Saturday, September 12, with the accompanying report telling us: "We give an illustration of the lively scene from a sketch taken at this moment, from the prison gate tower, by E. Fitzpatrick, A.R.H.A.”
In January 1865 Edmund had a lithograph of Robert Emmett for sale with an advertisement in The Irishman newspaper. It showed a photograph of Emmet in the uniform of a General of the United Irishmen, supposedly on the night before the outbreak of the 1803 Rebellion. No copy of the drawing has turned up although it might be one of the unsigned pictures of Emmet in uniform with which we are
familiar.
That was followed by news in the Kilkenny Moderator in February that Edmund had some more paintings "both finished and in progress" which they understood were intended for the forthcoming Dublin International and London Exhibitions. Edmund was in the finest of company at the huge Dublin exhibition with renowned Scottish artist Sir David Wilkie and one of Ireland's greatest artists, Daniel Maclise, among the exhibitors. The Dublin Exhibition ran from May to November and had nearly one million visitors.
On October 4, 1865 the Kilkenny Journal announced that a sketch would be published in the following week's Illustrated London News of the festivities in Kilkenny in commemoration of the coming of age of the Marquis of Ormonde. The sketch was by "by Edmund Fitzpatrick, Esq., A.R.H.A., so well known as the faithful delineator of Irish character." This is an interesting illustration with a realistic representation of the fireworks at Kilkenny Castle
In 1875 the centenary of the birth of the Liberator, Daniel O’Connell, was noted with a major commemoration to which Edmund made a notable contribution. The memorial committee published a record or picture gallery of O’Connell’s career. A number of illustrators contributed to the record which was advertised in all the
newspapers throughout July and August.
One of the most eagerly anticipated pictures was that of the proposed O’Connell Monument, designed by J. H. Foley who died before the centenary events. Permission was given by Foley’s executors to publish an engraving of the monument. "The drawing has been entrusted to our countryman, Mr. Edmund Fitzpatrick, whose name alone would be a guarantee that the exquisite delicacy and grace of the sculptor’s design has lost nothing in the illustration No Irish home, be it a cottage or a castle, will be without such an attractive and instructive memorial of the illustrious patriot”;
Unfortunately, from our point of view, the engraving was published as a separate illustration so that people could frame it and it was not included with other illustrations in the published record of the O’Connell celebrations and no copy has been found although again it might be one of the unsigned pictures of Dublin’s O’Connell Bridge monument with which we are familiar.
6In 1877 Edmund submitted a painting for the final time to the exhibition in Dublin.
He returned to a favourite theme as this was titled ST. PATRICK’S DAY IN THE MORNING.
On April 30, 1878 Edmund married Anne Gaudin of Battersea, London. His father’s name is included on the marriage certificate which helps to confirm the earlier records.
In 1888, Edmund illustrated another book, “Cured by an Incurable”, mostly with a series of drawings of animals. Ironically, for someone who left a lot of his work unsigned, practically all of the drawings in this book are initialled. This book also has a magnificent representation of the Royal Hospital for Incurables, as it was known at the time, now the Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability. We might label it as the last known illustration done by Edmund Fitzpatrick and it shows he retained his skill as an illustrator even in advancing years. This book was reissued by the British Library in 2011 as part of its Fiction and Prose Literature Collection and is available to buy through Book Depository.
It will be recalled that Edmund came late to marriage in 1878. His wife Anne died in 1893 but, having got a taste for married life, he remarried on October 2, 1894.
Having come late to marriage, Edmund also came late to parenthood. He and his wife Alice had a daughter, Alice Mary, born in July 1895. Sadly, he died the following year on March 27, 1896 at his home in London. Unfortunately it hasn't been possible to determine where Edmund is interred.
This brings the curtain down on an illustrious and prolific career. From the available evidence we can see that, when he was reviewed, Edmund Fitzpatrick was well thought of. On more than one occasion he was compared to Sir David Wilkie, one of the most famous artists of his day. He was also mentioned in the same company as Daniel Maclise, the most famous Irish artist of that era.
This talented Freshfordian deserves to have his name recalled and his place reclaimed among other distinguished Kilkenny-born people of the arts such as the banims, Francis MacManus, Mildred Anne Butler, et al.