Kathleen Lynn 3 was commissioned by the O.P.W in 2022 for Leinster House.. Matriline 3 120cm (47 ins) X 160 cm (63ins). Kathleen Lynn drawing is photographed and merged with 100 individual photos of Irish women from 1850 to date selected from a large sample.
Kathleen Lynn, born in Mayo was a pioneering paediatrician, a founder of St. Ultan’s Childrens’s Hospital, active in the cause of suffrage, a staunch Republican involved in the 1916 Rising as Captain and Chief Medical Officer in James Connolly’s Irish Citizen Army, politically prominent in National politics of the 20’s, especially in the areas of health and social change. As her biographer, Margaret Ó hÓgartaigh said, “women like Lynn used their political experience and considerable energy to fight for the unheard voices in Irish history; children, the urban poor and women.. (1). Her life, the lives of many women in the story of the Irish Revolution and the lives of women in history generally have not received the acknowledgement and recognition they deserve.
I have asked both men and women for a photographic record from the female lines in their families taking the dates of Kathleen Lynn’s life, 1874 to date. The historical visibility and record of women’s lives during this time is often erased, biased and sometimes airbrushed out altogether. The link with these women is here today with their children and children’s children and we carry their story with us. We are here because of them and we continue their struggle for a democratic inclusive society. I will choose a 100 of these family photos with some of the drawn images of the women involved in the Rising as part of the mosaic.
I have also taken a sample of 25 women involved in the 1916 Rising and drawn representative portraits. The final project therefore is a drawing and photographic collage and a celebration of Kathleen Lynn.