A Fine Type of Irishman. The Life and Death of Tom Blake will open and the official unveiling of the painting Éamon de Valera by Seán Keating, PRHA will take place in Limerick Museum.
Thomas (Tom) Blake (1892-1921) was a chemist’s assistant in Laird’s Medical Hall at 118 O’Connell Street. He joined the Irish Volunteers/IRA in 1917 and was a very active member until his death. Tom ‘acted as chemist’ for the Mid-Limerick Brigade and is believed to have procured pharmaceutical compounds required to manufacture explosive devices from Laird’s. He also assisted in their manufacture. Tom was shot dead by Crown forces on 28 January 1921. The prominent Limerick republican Madge Daly later wrote that his services as a chemist were ‘especially valuable’ and the death of this ‘fine type of Irishman’ represented ‘a great loss to the IRA’.
This wonderful exhibition also examines Tom Blake the private individual. During his short life. Tom managed to maintain an active social life. He was an active member of the Limerick Operatic Society and he and his friends enjoyed frequent trips to the coast.
Tom met his girlfriend Lily Lenihan (1894-1981) during a visit to Ballybunion. His five surviving letters to Lily, all written in the weeks immediately prior to his death, convey a loving and deeply caring relationship. He evidently took her fully into his confidence regarding his IRA activities and she was very concerned for his safety. Both looked forward to a ‘very happy’ future together beyond the ‘separation & suffering’ they were enduring at the present time. Lily was left distraught by Tom’s death. She never married and died in Dublin in October 1981.
The second part of this evening’s event will be the official unveiling of the painting Éamon de Valera by Seán Keating, PRHA. To mark the opening of the Fine Type of Irishman exhibition, Maire Lanaghan and her husband Iain have kindly donated this magnificent painting to Limerick Museum, dedicated to the memory of Tom Blake and his beloved Lily Lenihan. Full of character and vigour, this portrait depicts President de Valera when he was in his late 'seventies, and therefore can be dated to circa 1960, not long after he had won the 1959 presidential election. It will be on permanent display in Limerick Museum.
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The Old Franciscan Friary, Henry Street, Limerick, V94 C7W1
