Comments on: The Ireland’s Eye Murder

By: Undine

Undine — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 21:02:20 +0000

The Ireland’s Eye murder has fascinated me ever since I read William Roughead’s essay on the case. Whether or not that’s really a portrait of Maria Kirwan, it’s very interesting to know some of Kirwan’s artwork still exists–and that he tried to use it as an alibi!

By: Abigail Rieley

Abigail Rieley — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 17:22:56 +0000

Dr O’Boyle, thank you so much for taking the time to comment. I completely agree that the inscription on the back of the first picture is dodgy. I’ve always had a sneaking suspicion that it was written by an enterprising auctioneer eager to get the best price out of a rather uninspiring lot. However, I’d still be fairly confident that it does show Maria Kirwan, or at least someone who looked enough like her to confuse a casual observer. According to the Freeman’s Journal a framed miniature of her was one of the star lots in the auction so anyone buying the other collection would have seen it at the viewing and would recognise her face. There are several other sketches that seem to be of Maria in the collection which suggest that when Kirwan was sketching his wife he would do so “in the style” of celebrated artists and paintings. Apart from the rather pastoral 18th century subject of the one in this post there’s another which which seems to be Regency in style. On the back is written “Mrs Maria Kirwan from the (illegible) Picture by Chum(?) 1839″. The pencil handwriting looks far closer to the signature and notes elsewhere in the collection that really do seem to be written by Kirwan but the inscription is very hard to make out. It’s very easy to allow my imagination to run away with me working on the novel but for the purposes of this post I’ve tried to stick to verifiable facts or logical assumptions as far as possible though there’s not much of a paper trail – and it is, after all, a very good story.

By: Dr Aidan O Boyle

Dr Aidan O Boyle — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 18:37:40 +0000

I am afraid it would be unwise to take the inscription on the back of the first picture at face value.I hate to ruin a good story but it is unlikely that it is a portrait of Maria Kirwan.The sitter is quite accurately dressed in the fashion of the 1780`s and the hairstyle is of the same date.It seems to me that William Kirwan was simply copying an eighteenth-century portrait or engraving,possibly a fashion plate of the 1780`s.

By: In Memoriam | Abigail Rieley

In Memoriam | Abigail Rieley — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 15:45:31 +0000

[...] Diary for the Irish Times about the time Maria met her husband’s mistress. Today there’s a post on the National Library of Ireland blog about that picture of Maria that sits over my desk (along [...]