Artful Books: Illustration in Irish Children's Books

Great nations write their autobiographies in three manuscripts—the book of their deeds, the book of their words and the book of their art. No one of these books can be understood unless we read the two others.

(John Ruskin)

“In the beginning was the word.” For many Irish people it is difficult to accept that the opening of the Gospel of St. John was not written with Ireland specifically in mind. Much has been said about Ireland’s history and literature and now, as we face a new millennium, Irish writers have a confidence and a maturity born from a clear understanding of their place in the scheme of things, of their place in the great tradition of Irish writing. Irish poets, dramatists, novelists, and children’s writers continue to produce work which, though national in the narrow sense, belongs properly to the larger global community. But in discussions on Irish education and culture great emphasis continues to be placed on the role of the writer, with much less focus on the visual. To paraphrase Ruskin, we have yet to complete the manuscript of art and the art of the book. Part of that manuscript must be the evolution of illustration in children’s books and the role of illustrators in the developing and nurturing of a distinctive Irish identity.

In the relatively short history of Irish children’s literature there have been two major motivating factors in the production of Irish books for Irish children. The first was the movement known as the Celtic Revival and the second was the period known in Ireland as “The Emergency.”

The Celtic Revival was part of a larger cultural revival which was characterized by efforts to foster an Irish cultural identity through the collection of folklore, the revival of the Irish language, and the attainment of an Irish Ireland through the renewal of interest in all things Irish. The second period of increased publishing activity, “The Emergency,” saw Ireland, at the time of the Second World War, declare its neutrality—an action which effectively resulted in a period of cultural isolation. That this isolation and introspection was not all negative, however, can be seen in the comments in 1950 of one critic:

that our very isolation created here a feeling of individuality and self-confidence; or alternatively and perhaps simultaneously the very precariousness of our chosen isolation demonstrated even more strongly than involvement that we were part of modern Europe and not, as some would pretend, an exotic and miraculous survival from a Celtic Middle Ages.

(Sheehy 45)

During both of these periods there was an unprecedented level of publication for young people in both Irish and English. In 1893 Douglas Hyde, who was later to become Ireland’s first President, lamented that there were only six Irish-language books in print; in the same year Conradh na Gaeilge, the Gaelic League, was founded. Its main aims were the revival and preservation of the Irish language and traditional Irish culture. Over the succeeding decades the Irish government sought to promote publication in Irish and, most significantly in this regard, An Gúm, the publications branch of the Department of Education, was set up: it is today still foremost in this particular field. Between 1926 and 1964 it is estimated that An Gúm produced some 1,465 publications. Many of these were children’s books, some home-grown such as Máirín Ní Chriagáin’s Seán-Eoin (Old John), with illustrations by Jack B. Yeats, others hybrid, such as Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland in translation, with illustrations by Kathleen Verschoyle. In the 1970s An Gúm was again to play a critical role in the realm of children’s books and more specifically in the production of high quality picture and illustrated books.

Figure 1.

Illustration by Lucas Rooney for Na Rudaí Beaga (Little Things), Daibhis (1919).

The Celtic Revival period in the production of books in English is best exemplified by works such as Crofton Croker’s Fairy Legends of the South of Ireland, with...