Sarah Cecilia Harrison (1863–1941) was an Irish artist and the first woman to serve on

Dublin City Council Dublin City Council ( ga, Comhairle Cathrach Bhaile Átha Cliath) is the authority responsible for local government in the city of Dublin in Ireland. As a city council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. Until 2001, the council wa ...

Life

Early life and education

Harrison, who went by the name Cecilia, was born to an affluent family in

Holywood, County Down Holywood ( ) (Irish: ''Ard Mhic Nasca'', meaning 'Height of the Son of Nasca'. Latin: ''Sanctus Boscus'', meaning 'Holy Wood') is a town in the metropolitan area of Belfast in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is a civil parish and townland of 7 ...

. She was the great grand-niece of

United Irishman ''The United Irishman'' was an Irish nationalist newspaper co-founded by Arthur Griffith and William Rooney.Arthur Griffith ...

and industrialist

Henry Joy McCracken Henry Joy McCracken (31 August 1767 – 17 July 1798) was an Irish republican, a leading member of the Society of the United Irishmen and a commander of their forces in the field in the Rebellion of 1798. In pursuit of an independent and democrat ...

and the social reformer and anti-slavery campaigner

Mary Ann McCracken Mary Ann McCracken (8 July 1770 – 26 July 1866) was a social activist and campaigner in Belfast, Ireland, whose extensive correspondence is cited as an important chronicle of her times. Born to a prominent liberal Presbyterian family, she comb ...

. At the age of ten her father died and she and her family relocated to London. Harrison attended school in Queens College in London where she was awarded a silver medal by University College, London, for painting from the antique. She studied under

Alphonse Legros Alphonse Legros (8 May 1837 – 8 December 1911) was a French, later British, painter, etcher, sculptor, and medallist. He moved to London in 1863 and later took British citizenship. He was important as a teacher in the British etching rev ...

at the

Slade School of Fine Art The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...

from 1878 to 1885 and won the Slade scholarship. She travelled widely on the continent as part of her studies including Paris, Italy and Amsterdam.

Career

In 1889 Harrison moved to Dublin and established herself as one of Ireland's foremost portrait artists. She submitted 60 paintings to the

Royal Hibernian Academy The Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA) is an artist-based and artist-oriented institution in Ireland, founded in Dublin in 1823. Like many other Irish institutions, such as the RIA, the academy retained the word "Royal" after most of Ireland became in ...

's annual exhibition and numerous other works to the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...

in London during her career. She was an honorary academician of the Royal Ulster Academy of Fine Arts. Harrison's brother,

Henry Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) * Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

, was a supporter of

Charles Stewart Parnell Charles Stewart Parnell (27 June 1846 – 6 October 1891) was an Irish nationalist politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1875 to 1891, also acting as Leader of the Home Rule League from 1880 to 1882 and then Leader of the ...

and a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

Tipperary Tipperary is the name of: Places *County Tipperary, a county in Ireland **North Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Nenagh **South Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Clonmel *Tipperary (town), County Tipperary's na ...

. Harrison herself became the first female city councillor for

Dublin Corporation Dublin Corporation (), known by generations of Dubliners simply as ''The Corpo'', is the former name of the city government and its administrative organisation in Dublin since the 1100s. Significantly re-structured in 1660-1661, even more sign ...

in 1912. She campaigned to have

Poor relief In English and British history, poor relief refers to government and ecclesiastical action to relieve poverty. Over the centuries, various authorities have needed to decide whose poverty deserves relief and also who should bear the cost of hel ...

extended to the able-bodied unemployed and worked to promote women's rights. She was closely involved in

Hugh Lane Sir Hugh Percy Lane (9 November 1875 – 7 May 1915) was an Irish art dealer, collector and gallery director. He is best known for establishing Dublin's Municipal Gallery of Modern Art (the first known public gallery of modern art in the ...

's efforts to establish a gallery of modern art in Dublin. Following Lane's death on the ''Lusitania'' in 1915, she claimed that they had been engaged to be married. Her 1914 portrait of Lane is one of her best-known works. Harrison never married.

Death and legacy

Harrison is buried in Mount Jerome Cemetery, the inscription on her gravestone reads ‘Artist and Friend of the Poor’. Harrison's artistic style is precise and realistic. There are examples of her work in the collections of the

National Gallery of Ireland The National Gallery of Ireland ( ga, Gailearaí Náisiúnta na hÉireann) houses the national collection of Irish and European art. It is located in the centre of Dublin with one entrance on Merrion Square, beside Leinster House, and another on ...

, the

Hugh Lane Gallery The Hugh Lane Gallery, officially Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane and originally the Municipal Gallery of Modern Art, is an art museum operated by Dublin City Council and its subsidiary, the Hugh Lane Gallery Trust. It is in Charlemont House ( ...

, the

Office of Public Works The Office of Public Works (OPW) ( ga, Oifig na nOibreacha Poiblí) (legally the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland) is a major Irish Government agency, which manages most of the Irish State's property portfolio, including hundreds of o ...

, the

Scottish National Portrait Gallery The Scottish National Portrait Gallery is an art museum on Queen Street, Edinburgh. The gallery holds the national collections of portraits, all of which are of, but not necessarily by, Scots. It also holds the Scottish National Photography Co ...

, the

Ulster Museum The Ulster Museum, located in the Botanic Gardens in Belfast, has around 8,000 square metres (90,000 sq. ft.) of public display space, featuring material from the collections of fine art and applied art, archaeology, ethnography, treasure ...

and National Museums Northern Ireland. Sarah Cecilia Harrison is known as an artist, nationalist, social reformer and feminist. Cecilia Harrison became a well known portrait artist. On 24 November 2014 Harrison's 'Portrait of a Young Lady Reading' sold at

auction An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition ex ...

for €6,600.

Feminism

For some 30 years Sarah was part of social reform and women's rights in Ireland. In 1912 she was the first woman to be elected to the Dublin City Council. Here she worked closely with Alderman

Alfie Byrne Alfred Byrne (17 March 1882 – 13 March 1956) was an Irish politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP), as a Teachta Dála (TD) and as Lord Mayor of Dublin. He was known as the "Shaking Hand of Dublin". Early life The second of seven ...

. Sarah is also recognised for her prominent place in the suffrage victory procession and escorting Anna Halsam to vote in the Williams Street Courthouse, Dublin, in the 1918 General Election

Well-known works

Portrait of

which is shown in the

Portrait of Hugh Lane Portrait of Scottish Writer 1897

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Sarah Cecilia 1863 births 1941 deaths 19th-century Irish painters 20th-century Irish painters 20th-century Irish women artists 19th-century Irish women artists Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art Burials at Mount Jerome Cemetery and Crematorium Irish women in politics Irish women painters Members of Dublin City Council People from Holywood, County Down Artists from County Down