Life mask, Terence MacSwiney, Brixton Prison, 1920

Life mask, Terence MacSwiney, Brixton Prison, 1920

Often mistaken for the typical death mask, this plaster effigy of Terence MacSwiney was actually taken during his life; a few days before his death after 74 days of hunger strike in Brixton Prison, London.
Terence MacSwiney was elected Sinn Féin Lord Mayor of Cork after the murder of the previous mayor, Tomás Mac Curtain, by Black and Tans. MacSwiney had a long record of active service in Sinn Féin and the Volunteers, and within days of the British authorities imposing of martial law on Cork, he was arrested and court martialled. He refused to recognise the authority of the British courts and protested by going on a hunger strike that was to gain the attention of the world for the cause of Irish freedom. News of his death on 25 October 1920 travelled around the world, influencing independence movements throughout the British Empire.
This life mask is an early plaster version of the marble sculpture created by artist Albert Power, who was commissioned by writer and republican Oliver St John Gogarty. Mary MacSwiney, sister of Terence, organised for Power to visit the dying man on the pretence of being a relative come to say his last goodbye. Power took measurements of MacSwiney’s face which he used to later create the mask, which remained hidden before being smuggled to Cork. The mask, with the small smile on MacSwiney’s lips, became a powerful image of his sacrifice through protest and his martyrdom for Ireland.