Hibernia as a
national personification
A national personification is an anthropomorphic personification of a state or the people(s) it inhabits. It may appear in political cartoons and propaganda.
Some early personifications in the Western world tended to be national manifestations o ...
representing
Ireland appeared in numerous cartoons and drawings, especially in the nineteenth century.
As depicted in frequent cartoons in ''
Punch
Punch commonly refers to:
* Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist
* Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice
Punch may also refer to:
Places
* Pu ...
'', a magazine outspokenly hostile to
Irish nationalism, Hibernia was shown as "
Britannia
Britannia () is the national personification of Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used in classical antiquity, the Latin ''Britannia'' was the name variously applied to the British Isles, Great ...
's younger sister". She is an attractive, vulnerable girl. She is threatened by manifestations of Irish nationalism such as the
Fenians or the
Irish National Land League
The Irish National Land League (Irish: ''Conradh na Talún'') was an Irish political organisation of the late 19th century which sought to help poor tenant farmers. Its primary aim was to abolish landlordism in Ireland and enable tenant farmer ...
, often depicted as brutish, ape-like monsters. Unable to defend herself, Hibernia is depicted turning to the strong, armoured Britannia for defence.
John Tenniel, now mainly remembered as the illustrator of ''
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (commonly ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English novel by Lewis Carroll. It details the story of a young girl named Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of anthropomorphic creatu ...
'', produced a number of such depictions of Hibernia.
At times nationalist publications (such as the Land League and Parnell's ''United Ireland'' newspaper) did use the image of Hibernia. However, possibly because of the pro-union publications' adoption of the "helpless" image of Hibernia, nationalist publications would later use
Erin
Erin is a Hiberno-English word for Ireland originating from the Irish word ''"Éirinn"''. "Éirinn" is the dative case of the Irish word for Ireland, "Éire", genitive "Éireann", the dative being used in prepositional phrases such as ''"go h ...
and
Kathleen Ni Houlihan
Kathleen Ni Houlihan ( ga, Caitlín Ní Uallacháin, literally, "Kathleen, daughter of Houlihan") is a mythical symbol and emblem of Irish nationalism found in literature and art, sometimes representing Ireland as a personified woman. The f ...
as personifications of Irish nationhood. (Although Irish Nationalists did continue to use the terms "Hibernia" and "Hibernian" in other contexts, such as the
Ancient Order of Hibernians
The Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH; ) is an Irish Catholic fraternal organization. Members must be male, Catholic, and either born in Ireland or of Irish descent. Its largest membership is now in the United States, where it was founded in N ...
). A statue, derived from an original by
Edward Smyth and depicting a more confident Hibernia (with harp and spear), stands in the central position of three atop the
General Post Office
The General Post Office (GPO) was the state postal system and telecommunications carrier of the United Kingdom until 1969. Before the Acts of Union 1707, it was the postal system of the Kingdom of England, established by Charles II in 1660. ...
in Dublin. The statue appeared on a
€2 commemorative coin in 2016 to mark the centenary of the 1916
Easter Rising.
References
19th century in Ireland
Personifications of Ireland
National personifications
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