Grief’s Broken Brow

In early 2023 I was approached by Jamie Murphy of The Salvage Press to create three new artworks to accompany new works of Irish poetry inspired by the Irish War of Independence & Civil War archives. The artworks and poems were to be housed in a letterpress printed book by The Salvage Press under the title Grief’s Broken Brow commissioned by UCD Library in partnership with Poetry Ireland and Arts Council Northern Ireland as part of
Poetry as Commemoration.

The inspiration for the three artworks came from an interior photograph (8th image below) of the Public Record Office after its destruction at The Battle of The Four Courts June 30th, 1922. There were no casualties but shockingly, 7 centuries of public records were lost. There are three blown out Romanesque windows in the image, these, as well three Earley Studio windows (1925) in The Church of The Sacred Heart, Arbour Hill (that commemorate those that died in the cause of Irish Independence 1916–23) form the framework that links all three artworks. The colouration of the three windows change from the colours of The Union Jack to the Irish Tricolour signifying the ultimate liberation of the state.

Additional context to the project is detailed on The Salvage Press website
Images (1-7) credit: The Salvage Press
Short film credit: Ror Conaty