Sir, – Prof Diarmaid Ferriter rightly highlights the neglect of Arthur Griffith in the popular narrative of this island’s modern history (“Spare a thought for Griffith amid centenary of Collins’s death”, Opinion & Analysis, April 8th).
Griffith’s widow, Maud, was annoyed by the failure of the State, a State founded principally on ideas Griffith developed and enunciated, to honour him individually.
As Prof Ferriter suggests, it is time to take our first head of government out of the shadow of Michael Collins and honour him in his own right.
As a small gesture towards this, Joyceborough and Printwell has jointly published annually since 2018 a commemorative miscellany celebrating Griffith and his contribution to the formation of the independent Irish State. We have borrowed the title “Scissors and Paste” from Griffith himself (and as “name-checked” in Ulysses) for this ongoing series. The 2022 edition of the miscellany was published on March 31st, Griffith’s 151st birthday.
That centenary edition contains a notable contribution from sculptor John Coll about his design for a bronze memorial for Arthur Griffith, accompanied by an illustration of the maquette of this memorial. Can we hope for the erection of this memorial in the centenary year of Griffith’s death? – Yours, etc,
DES GUNNING,
Dublin 7.