Title
Cast of Death Mask of John Philpot Curran (1750-1817), LawyerDate1817
MediumPlaster
Dimensions
32 cm
Credit LinePresented, The Royal Hibernian Academy, 1912
Object numberNGI.8132
Label TextCurran was a barrister and member of Henry Grattan's party in parliament. His eloquent oratory led Thomas Crofton Croker to write that listeners were ‘carried away by his splendid language and by the power of his metaphors’. In the 1790s Curran defended several members of the United Irishmen, including Wolfe Tone. Although he lost the cases, the high-profile trials enhanced his reputation as a leading defence barrister. Having agreed initially to defend Robert Emmet at his trial for high treason in 1803, Curran refused the case after discovering his daughter’s clandestine relationship with Emmet.