Lot 40: Darius J. MacEgan (1856-1939) Portrait of Kevin

Darius J. MacEgan (1856-1939) Portrait of Kevin O'Higgins Pencil, 40 x 31.5cm (15¾ x 11.4'') Signed Kevin O'Higgins,the well known politician,was born in Strabally , Co. Laois in 1892. He was educated at Clongowes Wood College and later St. Patricks College Maynooth and UCD. While still a student he joined Sinn Féin. He was first elected as MP for Laois while he was imprisoned in 1918. He was on the run in 1920 and was elected TD for South Dublin in 1922. He was a strong advocate of acceptance of the 1921 Treaty. After the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922 he became Minister for Justice and external affairs. O'Higgins established the Garda Síochána as an unarmed police force to replace the RIC. While on his way to mass on 10th July 1927 at Booterstown,Co. Dublin he was shot dead by an unknown gunman. This work is thought to be one of a series of pencil drawings of the first executive Government that The Mac Egan did circa 1924; another of the series of T.M. Healy as Governor-General of the Irish Free State is in Áras an Uachtaráin.