Jack B. Yeats, Irish, 1871-1957
Title: Bachelor's Walk, In Memory
Date: 1915
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions:
45.7 x 61 cm
Credit Line: On loan from a Private Collection
Object Number: L.2009.1
DescriptionOn 26 July 1914, a detachment of the King’s Own Scottish Borderers, which had intercepted a party of Irish Volunteers transporting arms from Howth, encountered a hostile crowd in central Dublin. In panic, the soldiers opened fire, killing three people, and injuring over thirty (one of whom died subsequently). Though Yeats did not witness the event, he executed a sketch on the spot the following day, and produced both this oil painting and a print on the subject.
Label TextOn 26 July 1914, a detachment of the King’s Own Scottish Borderers, which had intercepted a party of Irish Volunteers transporting arms from Howth, encountered a hostile crowd in central Dublin. In panic, the soldiers opened fire, killing three people, and injuring over thirty (one of whom died subsequently). Though Yeats did not witness the event, it evidently played on his mind, as he executed a sketch on the spot the following day, and produced subsequently both this oil painting and a print on the subject.
Label TextOn 26 July 1914, the Irish Volunteers took delivery of German rifles and ammunition at Howth Harbour, north of Dublin. The unloading of guns from a private yacht attracted a crowd and the attention of the authorities. As soldiers from the King's Own Scottish Borderers returned to barracks, they were accosted by civilians on the quays, who threw stones and taunts. Shots were fired into the crowd, ultimately killing four and injuring 30. Yeats was not an eye-witness, but, moved by the incident, made a sketch on the spot the following day. He subsequently painted this oil.