Patrick Ireland laid to rest (Wednesday 21 May 2008)
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| The grave has been dug |
Yesterday evening artist Patrick Ireland was laid to rest in the grounds of the Irish Museum of Modern Art, presumably the first and probably the last artist to have this honour bestowed upon him. Lazarus-like, artist Brian O'Doherty then (re)appeared before the large crowd of onlookers: 'Patrick Ireland' was the pseudonym adopted by O'Doherty in 1972, in outrage at Derry's 'Bloody Sunday'. He swore to use only that name to sign his works "until such time as the British military presence is removed from Northern Ireland and all citizens are granted their civil rights."
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| The crowd |
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| The coffin is carried through the crowd |
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| Michael Rush as chief celebrant, with Brian O'Doherty behind him to his left, masked, flanked by Barbara Novak and Christina Kennedy |
Judging those criteria to have been met after the Good Friday agreement took hold, O'Doherty allowed his alter ego to be interred, as a 'death mask' plus effigy in a coffin, in the grounds of IMMA.
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| Brian O'Doherty returns - the mask is lifted |
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| Brian O'Doherty returns - the mask is lifted |
In lieu of the more standard burial ceremony, poems were read, followed by a spine-tingling 'keening' by artist Alanna O'Kelly. O'Doherty stood to the fore throughout, flanked by his wife Barbara Novak and Christina Kennedy, now at IMMA but curator of his recent retrospective at the Hugh Lane. O'Doherty's face was covered by a gauze mask which he removed before being the first to throw a handful of dirt onto the lowered cofffin.
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| The coffin in the grave, with soil and mask Brian O'Doherty has removed ; also headstone inscribed in English and ogham |
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| The coffin in the grave, with soil and mask Brian O'Doherty has removed |
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