Grace Evelyn Gifford Plunkett | |
|---|---|
 Young Ireland: Grace Gifford byWilliam Orpen, c. 1907 | |
| Born | (1888-03-04)4 March 1888 Rathmines, Dublin, Ireland |
| Died | 13 December 1955(1955-12-13) (aged 67) Portobello, Dublin, Ireland |
| Occupation | Cartoonist |
| Spouse | |
| Relatives | 11 siblings, including |
Grace Evelyn Gifford Plunkett (4 March 1888 – 13 December 1955) was anIrish artist andcartoonist who was active in the Republican movement, who married her fiancéJoseph Plunkett inKilmainham Gaol only a few hours before he was executed for his part in the 1916Easter Rising.
Gifford's parents were Frederick Gifford, a solicitor[1] and aRoman Catholic, and Isabella Julia Burton Gifford, aProtestant. They were married inSt George's, aChurch of Ireland church on the north side of Dublin. Grace was the second youngest in a family of 12 children and grew up in the fashionable suburb ofRathmines in Dublin.[2] The boys were baptised as Catholics and the girls as Protestant, but effectively the children were all raised as Protestants – the girls attendedAlexandra College in Earlsfort Terrace, and the boys attended theHigh School in Harcourt Street.[3][4]
At the age of 16, Gifford went to theDublin Metropolitan School of Art, where she studied under the Irish artistWilliam Orpen. Orpen regarded Gifford as one of his most talented pupils. He often sketched her and eventually painted her as one of his subjects for a series on 'Young Ireland'. At around this time, Gifford's talent for caricature was discovered and developed. In 1907 she attended the course in Fine Art at theSlade School of Art, London.[5]
Gifford returned to Dublin in 1908 and, with great difficulty, tried to earn a living as a caricaturist, publishing her cartoons inThe Shanachie,Irish Life,Meadowstreet andThe Irish Review, which was edited from 1913 byJoseph Plunkett. She considered emigrating but gave up the idea. Despite earning so little money, she enjoyed a lively social life; her friends includedNora Dryhurst, a journalist who worked in London, andGeorge William Russell (Æ).[5] During the same year, Mrs Dryhurst brought Gifford to the opening of the new bilingual schoolScoil Éanna inRanelagh, Dublin. It was here that she met Joseph Plunkett for the first time. He was a friend of her brother-in-law, another of the future leaders of the 1916Easter Rising,Thomas MacDonagh, who was married to Gifford's sister Muriel.[5][1]
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Gifford's growing interest in the Roman Catholic religion led to the deepening of her relationship with Plunkett as she began to discuss Catholic mystical ideas with him – he was from an arch-Catholic family, his father a Papal count. Plunkett proposed to her in 1915; Gifford accepted and took formal instruction in Catholic doctrine. She was received into the Catholic Church in April 1916. The couple planned to marry on Easter Sunday that year, in a double wedding with his sister and her fiancé.[6] Her parents were not in favour of her marrying Plunkett, due to the precarious state of his health – he was extremely ill at this time.[7]
After the Rising, Gifford's brother-in-lawThomas MacDonagh was shot withPH Pearse andThomas Clarke by firing squad on 3 May. That day, she heard that Plunkett was to be shot at dawn. She bought a ring in a jeweller's shop in Dublin city centre and, with the help of a priest, persuaded the military authorities to allow them to marry. Gifford and Plunkett were married on the night of 3 May in the chapel ofKilmainham Gaol, a few hours before he was executed.[8][9][1]
Grace Plunkett decided to devote herself through her art to the promotion ofSinn Féin policies and resumed her commercial work to earn a living. She was elected to the Sinn Féin executive in 1917.
Her sister Muriel, widow of executed 1916 leader Thomas MacDonagh, died of heart failure while swimming in 1917. Grace shared the care of Muriel's two children,Donagh MacDonagh and Barbara with their eldest sister, Katherine, until 1919. She was a loving aunt to both throughout her life.
During theCivil War, Grace Plunkett was arrested with many others in February 1923 and interned at Kilmainham Gaol for three months. She painted pictures on the walls of her cell, including one of theBlessed Virgin and theChrist Child. The current picture of the Madonna displayed in her cell is a recreation of the original by Thomas Ryan RHA.[10] She was released in May 1923.
When the Civil War ended, she had no home of her own and little money. Like many Anti-Treaty Republicans, Grace was the target of social ostracism and had difficulty finding work. Her talent as an artist was her only real asset; her cartoons were published in various newspapers and magazines, includingDublin Opinion, theIrish Tatler,Sketch, and on one occasion in 1934,Punch. She illustratedW. B. Yeats'The Words upon the Window Pane in 1930.
She moved from one rented apartment to another and ate in city centre restaurants. She befriended many people and had many admirers, but had no wish to remarry. Her material circumstances improved in 1932 when she received a Civil List pension fromÉamon de Valera'sFianna Fáil government.[5] This freed her from financial worries and enabled her to make the occasional trip to Paris where she delighted in visits to the galleries and exhibitions. She lived for many years in a flat inNassau Street with a balcony overlooking the sports ground ofTrinity College.
Grace's in-laws refused to honour her husband's will, in which he left everything to his widow, or his last letter to her in which he requested her to ensure that she pursue this - a heavy burden to place on Grace, who was not a mercenary person. Legally, the will was invalid because there was only one witness (the law requires two) and also the marriage took place after the will was made, automatically revoking it.[5] For years Grace received nothing, so she began legal proceedings against her mother- and father-in-law,CountGeorge Noble Plunkett and his wife in 1934. The Count and Countess Plunkett settled out of court. Grace was paid £700, plus costs.[11]
At around this time, she joined theOld Dublin Society, where she met the noted Irishharpsichord makerCathal Gannon. When Cathal married, Grace gave him and his wife Margaret a present of two single beds and a picture. From the late 1940s onwards, Grace's health declined. In 1950 she was brought toSt Vincent's Hospital, then in the city centre. She convalesced in a nursing home, which she did not like, mainly because it restricted her freedom.[12]
Grace Gifford Plunkett died suddenly on 13 December 1955 in her apartment inSouth Richmond Street,Portobello. Her body was removed toSt Kevin's Church, Harrington Street and among the attendees at her funeral was PresidentSeán T. O'Kelly. She was buried with full military honours close to the republican plot inGlasnevin Cemetery.[5][13]
She is the subject of "Grace", a song written in 1985 by Frank and Seán O'Meara, which became popular in Ireland and elsewhere and has been recorded by many musicians.[14] The song was adopted byGreen Brigade, a group of supporters ofCeltic FC who attempted in December 2016 to make a version by the band Glasnevin, Christmas number one in the UK. This was in aid of a legal fund to pay for its member who received fines under theOffensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Act 2012 and for campaigning for its repeal.[15]
She is one of the people seen buying a bond in John MacDonagh's newsreel of Michael Collins signing the first issue of Republican Bonds outside St Enda's,Rathfarnham in 1919. The film is archived and available for viewing at the Irish Film Institute and online.[16]
During her life, three books of Gifford's pen and ink drawings of Irish theatre and political figures were published.[2]
Grace Gifford Plunkett died in Dublin on 13th December 1955 and was buried in Glasnevin cemetery
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