New exhibition on the Munster Fusilliers

A new exhibition to commemorate the centenary of the unveiling of the Cork War Memorial on the South Mall on 17 March 1925, has opened in Cork Public Museum in Fitzgerald’s Park. The exhibition entitled ‘The Last General Absolution of the Munsters at Rue de Bois’ can be viewed until 22 May.

The main feature of the exhibition is the earliest known painted copy of the iconic Great War painting The Last General Absolution of the Munsters at Rue du Bois by Italian artist Fortunino Matania. Daniel Breen, Curator of Cork Public Museum has noted that Cork Public Museum is “delighted to be able to display this wonderful and historic painting to the public for the first time ever”.

The painting illustrates the 2nd Battalion of Royal Munster Fusiliers receiving general absolution on the eve of the Battle of Aubers Ridge from their chaplain, Father Gleeson adjacent a roadside shrine on the Rue du Bois in France on 8 May 1915. The scene is based on eyewitness accounts gathered by Jessie Rickard, the widow of Lieutenant-Colonel Victor Rickard, who was killed in the battle.

The following day, the British Army lost 11,000 men, dead or wounded, during the Battle of Aubers Ridge, of which 300 came from the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Munster Fusiliers. Of these 300, 95% were Irish, with at least 50 connected to Cork city and county.

Interpretative panels at the museum outline that the painting was published in the British magazine, The Sphere, on 27 November 1916. It was so popular that large numbers of prints were later sold by the magazine. It was also published in the Irish publication The Weekly Freeman’s. After the war many households in Cork displayed a copy of the print to honour family members who took part in the conflict.

The original painting is believed to have been lost in the bombing of London during the Second World War. However, the version currently on display at Cork Public Museum was commissioned from the artist in 1919 by Alfred Robinson to hail the safe return of his son Lt Alfred Esmond Robinson MC and Bar, from the war. The painting remained with the Robinson family until it was sold at auction last year. Thankfully, it was purchased by Willie and Mary Slattery from Dublin who generously loaned it to Cork Public Museum for public display.

Interpretation panels on the artist Fortunino Matania outlines that he was a painter, draughtsman and miniaturist who focussed on historical subjects. Born in Naples on 16 April 1881, he studied art with his father, Eduardo Matania, a prominent artist for the Italian weekly, L’Illustrazione. At the age of 11, he exhibited his first work at the Naples Academy. Three years later, he followed in his father’s footsteps and was employed as an artist by L’Illustrazione.

At the age of twenty, Matania moved to Paris to work with lustration Francaise. Then, in 1904, he moved to London after Clement Shorter, editor of the British illustrated magazine The Sphere, employed him to create illustrations of news events from around the world. His pictures were frequently based on eye-witness accounts and became known for their authenticity and photorealistic quality.

Matania produced some of his most famous work while working at The Sphere, including detailed illustrations of many different events from the Great War. To ensure these pictures had a high degree of accuracy, Matania visited the front at several times in order to view the circumstances faced by military personnel.

The museum’s interpretative panels also outline that the painting was stirred by the 1915 book ‘The Story of the Munsters’, which was written by Jessie Rickard, a well-known novelist and wife of Colonel Victor Rickard, one of the officers depicted in the painting and who also lost his life during the Battle of Aubers Ridge. Though Dublin-born, Jessie Rickard spent much of her life in Cork.

Jessie was born in Dublin in 1876. She was the daughter of Canon Courtney Moore, Anglican rector, noted antiquarian and founder of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society, and his wife, Jessie Mona Duff. She spent most of her youth in Mitchelstown.

When she was 18 years old, she penned a series of hunting sketches that appeared in The Cork Examiner. These were followed by a hunting story, ‘The Price of a Friend’, which appeared in The Irish Times. In October 1901, Jessie married Robert Dudley Innes Ackland. Though the couple had a daughter in 1902, they divorced in 1907, causing a rift between Jessie and her father. The following year, Jessie married Victor Rickard and in 1913, the couple had a son.

After Victor Rickard was killed at Aubers Ridge, Jessie published four articles on the Royal Munster Fusiliers in the journal New Ireland. Her account of the Last General Absolution of the Munsters at Rue du Bois on 8 May 1915, shaped the basis of the painting, which served as a visual memorial to her husband and his men. The articles also appeared in the British magazine The Sphere, and in her book, ‘The Story of the Munsters at Etreux, Festubert, Rue du Bois and Hulloch’, which was published in 1918.

In 1916, Jessie married Lieutenant Colonel Tudor Fitzjohn, but the couple divorced in 1935. During her life she wrote over forty novels which were published under the name Mrs Victor Rickard.

Jessie was received into the Roman Catholic Church in 1925, and in 1946 she came to Cork and resided in Montenotte – home of Denis Gwynn, an old friend and Professor of Modern Irish History at UCC. Jessie Rickard died on 28 January 1963 and is buried in Rathcooney Cemetery in Cork.

The Cork Public Museum exhibition also reflects upon the lives and experiences of some of the men portrayed in the painting, using original object and personal possessions to voice their stories, including that of Private Christy Barry of Douglas Street who was present for the last absolution and who also lost his life in the following day’s battle.

May Walking Tours with Kieran (All free, two hours, no booking required):

Friday evening, 2 May: Cork South Docklands historical walking tour: Discover the history of the city’s docks, from quayside stories to the City Park Race Course and Albert Road. Meet at Kennedy Park, Victoria Road, 6.30pm.

Saturday afternoon, 3 May: The Northern Ridge, St Patrick’s Hill to MacCurtain Street; Historical walking tour of the area around St Patrick’s Hill - Old Youghal Road to McCurtain Street. Meet on the Green at Audley Place, top of St Patrick’s Hill, 2pm.

Saturday afternoon, 24 May, Stories from Blackrock and Mahon; Historical walking tour of Blackrock village, from Blackrock Castle to Nineteenth Century Houses and Fishing. Meet in adjacent carpark at base of Blackrock Castle, 2pm.

Sunday evening, 25 May, The Lough and its Curiosities historical walking tour. Meet at green area at northern green of The Lough, entrance of Lough Road to The Lough, Lough Church end; 6.30pm (free, 2 hours, no booking required).