MUSI200
its once symbolic beauty
and romance now stripped
bare, Erin sat disconsolate
on a rock clutching its
tattered remains.
The character of Erin and
her harp are scarcely
recognisable
from
the
earlier cartoons, with the
harp itself utterly ruined
and the figure of Erin
holding a vacant stare into
the distance. This image is
undoubtedly powerful, and
to understand just what
this “darkest hour” was, the
historical context must be
addressed. This cartoon is
from 1922, during the bloody
civil war in Ireland, in which
those who believed that the
Anglo-Irish treaty was the
only achievable target in
the hope for independence
fought against those who
saw it as an insult, akin to
the oath to the crown that
MPs ha d to swear. These
anti-treaty forces wished to
fight for full independence,
and thus the two factions
that
fought
together
during the 1919-21 War of
Independence were now
embroiled in a bitter war
against each other. This
is what the cartoonists are
getting at here: Ireland was
now in her darkest hour,
and the solidarity that Erin
had once promoted through
her noble stance above
political belligerence was no
more. Erin and the harp’s
position as a romantic folk
ideal had fallen irretrievably
into the reality of politics
and conflict, which was
what Punch cartoonists
had feared would be her
downfall from the time of
the Land league of 1880
Figure 2: The Darkest Hour, 1922, Leonard Ravenhill
through the various conflicts
of the 20th century. The
harp, once respected by the
British cartoonists, was now
merely another image for
political castigation.
Hopefully
this
short
exploration could be built
upon with further study using
a wider range of primary
sources.
The
cartoon
representation of Erin has
been somewhat ignored in
scholarly study, depictions of
“paddy” garnering attention
at the expense of this most
beguiling of characters - one
that contrasts wildly with the
simian depictions of Irish
people in Punch magazine.
77
References
Adelman, P. and Pearse, R.
(2008) Great Britain and the Irish
Question, Third Edition. London:
Hodder Education.
Di Nie, M. (2004) The Eternal
Paddy: Irish Identity and the British
Press, 1798–1882. Madison, US:
University of Wisconsin Press.
Finnan, J. P. (2003) ‘Punch’s
Portrayal of Redmond, Carson
and the Irish Question, 1910-18’,
Irish Historical Studies, Vol. 33.
Foster, R. (1988) Modern Ireland
1600-1972. London: Penguin.
State, P. F. (2009) A Brief History
of Ireland. New York: Infobase.