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Henry McManus , Irish, c.1810-1878

Title

Reading 'The Nation'

Date1850s

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions

30.5 x 35.5 cm

Credit LineBequeathed, Sir Charles Gavan Duffy, 1903

Object numberNGI.1917

Label TextThe Nation was a weekly newspaper founded in 1842 by three young barristers, Charles Gavan Duffy (a close friend of the artist), Thomas Davis and John Blake Dillon, to campaign for repeal and serve generally as the mouthpiece for the nationalist Young Ireland movement. It was suppressed in 1848 for its revolutionary content, and though relaunched the following year, never recovered its radical cachet. Through his picture, McManus has attempted to celebrate the paper’s populist appeal, and more broadly to communicate the character and culture of the Irish, qualities that Duffy and his allies were eager to promote.