Personifying Ireland, Hibernia - or the Maid of Erin - appears on Cork’s National Monument. Unveiled in 1906, the monument honours the Irish rebellions of the 1700s & 1800s. Carved by John F. Davis, Hibernia stands with classic symbols of Irish cultural nationalism: the Gaelic harp and Celtic cross.

In 1849, Irish nationalist William Smith O’Brien (1803-64) was deported to Australia to serve a life sentence. After his 1854 pardon, the Irish community there commissioned a gold cup designed by Irish emigrant William Hackett, which shows Hibernia as Liberty crowning O’Brien with a laurel wreath.

The 19th-cen. Currier & Ives print ‘Emmet’s Betrothed’ portrays Sarah Curran as Hibernia. As I discuss in Classics Ireland 31, this work reflects a wider trend in Irish visual culture to transform women into ‘living allegories’. (Image: Philadelphia Art Museum)
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Call for Papers: Association for Art History 2026 Annual Conference

Next year’s Art History conference will be held 8-10 April 2026 in collaboration with the History of Art department at the University of Cambridge. ⬇️