"Pat Murphy of the Irish Brigade" by Bernie Rosage Jr.

"Pat Murphy of the Irish Brigade"

8x16x1.75" oil on panel

Enchanting Ireland Series

$360 ~ $20 shipping and handling

SOLD... PRIVATE COLLECTION...

County Wexford, Ireland

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click on image to enlarge...
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This painting is my representation and acknowledgment of the Irish in America. While in Ireland I noticed the local folks look just like us… then it dawned on me… they are us. I did some research… there are over 34.5 million U.S. residents who claim Irish ancestry. This number is almost nine times the population of Ireland itself (4.1 million). Their contributions are too great to list… they are a part of our history just as we are a part of theirs. At the outbreak of the American Civil War an estimated 170,000 men born in Ireland joined the Union Army, whereas only 40,000 were in the Confederate Army. At the Battle of Fredericksburg they were directly opposed to each other and cheered each others bravery. The title for this painting comes from a song of that period with the same title…

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With a pipe in his mouth sat a handsome young blade,

And a song he was singing so gaily,

His name was Pat Murphy of the Irish Brigade

And he sang of the land of Shillelagh.

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The day after battle, the dead lay in heaps

Pat Murphy lay bleeding and gory,

With a hole in his breast from some enemy's ball

Had ended his passion for glory,

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No more in the camps will his letters be read

Nor his voice be heard singing so gaily

For he died far away from the friends that he loved

And far from the land of shillelagh.