The wake of peace

Patrick Ireland is dead! Long live the Irish Peace!

A Thursday, May 22, 2008 article in the Art & Design section of The New York Times tells the story of Patrick Ireland’s funeral. He was 36.

Patrick Ireland was the brainchild of Irish artist Brian O’Doherty. In 1972, Mr. O’Doherty wanted to do something to protest the events of Bloody Sunday, January 30, 1972, when British soldiers killed fourteen unarmed Irish citizens in Londonderry, Northern Ireland.

What Mr. O’Doherty did was create an artistic doppelganger, Patrick Ireland. In a small ceremony, before thirty witnesses, he swore to sign all his artworks “Patrick Ireland” until “the British military presence is removed and all citizens granted their civil rights.”

Mr. O’Doherty, frustrated at his own sense of impotence, said, “The name at least became a reminder. Every work I did after that gained a political context for me and for anyone who may have wondered who Patrick Ireland was.”

Last Tuesday, satisfied that peace has truly taken root in Northern Ireland, Mr. O’Doherty staged a funeral for his alter ego.

“Has the passing of a life ever caused more joy?” asked Michael Rush, a former Jesuit priest and American museum director. Alannah O’Kelly keened. Mr. O’Doherty stepped forward, threw a handful of dirt on Patrick Ireland’s coffin, tossed his white stocking mask into the grave and said, simply, “Thank you. Thank you for peace.”

Never let it be said that the small act of one person counts for naught. Who knows how many people will bask in the wake of peace just because an Irish artist cared enough to stand for peace at home?