Fostering an Irish identity through art: A letter from Sylvester O'Halloran (1728-1807) to James Barry (1741-1806) in May 1791

Abstract

In 1843 an article from the secretary of the Cork Art-Union, which had appeared originally in the Southern Reporter, was sent to and published on page 12 of The Nation on the 2 December 1843. Included with this article was a letter from the surgeon and antiquarian Sylvester O'Halloran to the neo-classical painter James Barry, dated 1791. That correspondence should occur between O'Halloran and Barry is not totally unexpected, although no evidence to support this conjecture had existed until now. Even its appearance in 1843 was by chance, due to a correlation between its contents, the aspirations of the Art-Union and an active campaign by the Repeal Association, and in particular, Thomas Davis (1814-1845) to foster an Irish identity through the medium of art.