William Dargan (1799-1867), Railway Magnate and Sponsor of the 1853 Dublin Exhibition

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John Edward Jones , Irish, 1806-1862

Title

Date1854

MediumMarble

Dimensions

82 x 55 x 30 cm

SignedJ. E. Jones Sc./London 1854

Credit LinePresented, Mr G.A. Phillips, 1905

Object numberNGI.8204

DescriptionThis bust was a gift from Queen Victoria to William Dargan, in appreciation of his work on the Great International Exhibition in Dublin of 1853. The son of a Carlow farmer, Dargan trained as a surveyor in England, practised in Wales, and returned to Ireland to establish himself as a contractor. In 1831 he became the contractor for the first railway line in Ireland, from Dublin city centre to Kingstown (now Dun Laoghaire). During the following twenty years, he oversaw the building of over six hundred miles of railway line, the construction of the Ulster Canal, and the making of extensive improvements to Belfast's docks. In 1853 he organised the Irish Industrial Exhibition and was visited at his home by the Queen. In acknowledgement of Dargan's role in establishing a national gallery for Ireland, the NGI's oldest wing (1864) is named after him. Having first worked as an engineer, John Edward Jones enjoyed a successful career as a sculptor of portraits.