Solemn? This picture is solemnity personified. The four men walking with slow, precise steps. The blurry figures at the extreme edges of the image, suggesting that there are many, many more people in the procession. The snowflake-like shape between the two men at the centre has to be a wreath.
A funeral, then – and not just any funeral, but that of James Larkin, general secretary of the Workers' Union of Ireland, giant of trade union history and general Dublin legend.
Given that the funeral was a massive public occasion – thousands of people lined the route from St Mary’s Church on Haddington Road to Glasnevin Cemetery, while at Liberty Hall, 1,200 dockers formed a guard of honour – the gravitas of the photograph is deeply impressive.
The men are Larkin’s four sons: Denis, Fintan, Bernard and James. They walk in a unison that seems almost choreographed. Still, glimpses of their individuality can be seen in the fact that one chooses not to wear gloves, while another goes hatless. (James Jr and Denis would both become Labour Party TDs; Denis was also Lord Mayor of Dublin in 1955.)
So dignified is the demeanour of these four men that Chopin’s funeral march seems to seep out of the picture into the air around the viewer. The rain shining on the street adds to the atmosphere, as does the presence of the car on the street, its windscreen wipers clearly working overtime.
Interestingly, the building behind the cortege is the headquarters of the Irish Dunlop Company, whose factory on Upper Stephen Street was, after it opened in 1889, the first place in the world where pneumatic tyres were produced.
A particularly apt industrial background, perhaps, for an image connected to “Big” Jim Larkin.
– Arminta Wallace These and other Irish Times images can be purchased from: irishtimes.com/photosales