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Joseph Patrick Haverty , Irish, 1794-1864

Title

The Blind Piper

Date1841

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions

76 x 59 cm

Credit LinePresented, Mr W. O'Brien, 1864

Object numberNGI.166

DescriptionThis picture is both a portrait of a locally recognisable figure and a representation of a familiar Irish type. Ennis-born Pádraig O’Briain was well-known for many years for performing at the corner of Hartstonge Street and the Crescent in Limerick. Here he plays the union pipes, a uniquely Irish form of instrument played throughout Europe since the sixteenth century. The use of the term ‘uilleann pipes’, derived from the Irish word for elbow, was preferred by the early twentieth century. The celebrated status of pipers in Ireland in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries is demonstrated by the relative frequency with which they were identified by artists, writers and poets.
Haverty’s representation of O’Briain boasts a sentimentality that was consistent with romantic and political sensibilities prevalent in early nineteenth-century Ireland, and can be found in several portraits of blind pipers and harpists by other Irish artists. Haverty produced another version of this painting, perhaps with an alternative destination in mind, in which the piper and young girl appear in noticeably finer attire. The painting was first exhibited under the simple title The Father and Daughter. Prints after this version adorned the walls of many Irish residences, grand and modest alike.

March 2016

ProvenancePresented, Mr William Smith O'Brien, 1864Exhibition HistoryPaintings in England and Ireland 1700-1900, Dundalk, 1970

Pipes and Piping, National Museum of Ireland, Dublin, 20 July - September 1978

The Early Celtic Revival, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, April 1980

Lines of Vision. Irish Writers at the National Gallery of Ireland, 8 October 2014 —12 April 2015

Oidhreacht: Transforming Tradition, Highlanes Gallery, Drogheda, 13 June 2019 - 14 September 2019

Label TextThis picture is both a portrait of a recognisable figure and a representation of a familiar Irish type. Ennis-born Pádraig O’Briain was well-known for performing at the corner of Hartstonge Street and the Crescent in Limerick. Here he plays the union pipes, a uniquely Irish form of an instrument played throughout Europe since the sixteenth century. Haverty’s representation of O’Briain boasts a sentimentality that was consistent with romantic and political sensibilities prevalent among an early nineteenth-century audience, and can be found in several portraits of blind pipers and harpists. Prints after this portrait adorned the walls of many Irish homes.