Kathleen Lynn - Insider on the Outside
As part of the 1916 centenary celebrations
the Mayo Arts Collaborative hosted a creative investigation into the life and
work of Kathleen Lynn by thirteen contemporary Irish artists;
Kathleen Lynn –Insider on the outside. The exhibition was curated by Catherine Marshall, and
hosted in five locations across Mayo.
Several of the artists visited the RCPI
Heritage Centre during their research for this project to view Kathleen Lynn’s
diaries and the papers of Saint Ultan’s Hospital, which are held in the
archives here. Geraldine O’Reilly was
one of the artists who drew on Lynn’s pioneering work in Saint Ultan’s
hospital, and the early images of the hospital in the archive. Geraldine
produced three charcoal, conte and graphite images on Indian handmade
watercolour paper, and has kindly allowed use to share the images and the
inspiration behind them.
"Kathleen Lynn holding 4 malnourished children is based on an original photograph of Lynn which I found astonishing. Knowing that the infant mortality rate in Dublin was extraordinarily high. I decided to reproduce it on a large scale and highlight the condition of the children by detailing them in the drawing – something which is less obvious in the photograph. I also wanted to refer to her work setting up St Ultan’s, the first infant hospital in the new state."
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| Original photograph from the Saint Ultan's Album |
"Lynn was a pragmatic socialist and
republican. In a second drawing I hoped
to illustrate that pragmatism by reference to her accepting a goat donated by
Lady Carson to the hospital – the wife of Unionist Edward Carson which was then
named Carson, and a cot donated by the family of executed republican Rory
O’Connor provided it was named after him."
"In the 3rd drawing I refer to her origins
in County Mayo. The drawing ‘Mullaghfarry – birthplace of Kathleen Lynn’ shows
nature encroaching on the house she was born in. The house symbolising for me the decline of
a whole social order and the obscuring of the contribution of many like
Kathleen Lynn to the new state."
You can see Geraldine talking about Lynn and her work in RTE's Every County Has a Story for Mayo.