Discover Grace Gifford Plunkett's Artistic Journey

The popular RTÉ series Aistear an Amhrán tells the fascinating stories behind songs we all know and love. A recent episode explored the life and times of Grace Gifford Plunkett, the subject of the popular ballad Grace - watch it here via RTÉ Player.

Below, Ruth Hallinan from the National Irish Visual Arts Library (NIVAL) invites you to take a deeper dive into the life and work of the gifted Irish artist and cartoonist who inspired a singalong favorite.

How does an artist succeed in growing their career? How was a particular artist's first exhibition received, and how did they make the artwork to begin with? How will you be remembered as an artist?

The National Irish Visual Arts Library (NIVAL) was formally established almost 30 years ago as an initiative of the National College of Art and Design (NCAD) in partnership with the Arts Council of Ireland to collect these stories of 'how'. We actively collect documents that give insight into the development of Irish art practice, including invitations, sketchbooks, photographs, letters, posters, artist books, and many other items that show how an artist’s life and work develop over time. If you were to put our current holdings of thousands of documents back-to-back, they would be taller than Carrauntoohil!

One artist who features in the NIVAL collections is Grace Gifford Plunkett. She was a gifted artist and cartoonist who attended the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art (which would later become NCAD) from 1904-08 and again from 1924-8. At the age of 16, Grace studied under William Orpen and it was around this time that her talent for caricature emerged. She went on to study Fine Art at the Slade School of Art in London and, when she returned to Dublin, she met Joseph Plunkett and joined the Republican movement. She wed Plunkett just hours before his execution - the tragic story of which is immortalized in the ballad Grace.

Grace became a member of the Provisional Republican Government in 1917 and used her artistic skills to promote the cause of nationalism through cartoons, posters, and banners. She is particularly associated with pen and ink caricatures of literary and theatrical personalities of the day, which can be clearly seen in a book held at NIVAL called Twelve Nights at the Abbey Theatre (1929).

This rare publication, with a foreword by Lady Gregory, demonstrates Grace’s playful and keen eye for character, all of which can be traced back to her time as a 16-year-old at the DMSA. NIVAL is fortunate to hold a unique copy of a hand-illustrated booklet that was created by Grace as a student, lampooning administrative and teaching staff including then Registrar B.I. Tilly. In this Familiar Faces booklet, characters such as lace design teacher, Miss ‘Jocose’ Jacob, and perspective tutor, Mr ‘Remarkable’ Reeves, are depicted looming over students.

While the ballad Grace may be the best-known depiction of this artist’s life, her legacy goes further still, with NCAD dedicating its newest building, Grace Gifford House on John’s Lane West, to her memory. Her career as an artist is also preserved through the books and materials collected at NIVAL, which are available to anyone to view for free.

NIVAL is open to the public by appointment and is an institute for the whole island of Ireland. NIVAL is for you, whoever you are – there is something here for everyone, and we hope you come by.

Find out more about NIVAL here, and catch up with episodes of Aistear an Amhráin here.