Hall of Fame (Martin L. Flanery)

Martin L. Flanery was a talented nineteenth century artist, and is best known as the illustrator for the published works of William Carleton (1794-1869). Carleton wrote numerous tales of Irish country life in the form of a series of short stories and novels. Many of the short stories were initially published in contemporary newspapers under the title of "Traits and Stories of the Irish Peasantry", and then collectively published in bound volumes in several countries.

The definitive American edition was published in 3 volumes by P.F. Collier, New York, in 1881. All of the illustrations in this edition have been attributed to Martin, and the vast majority of them are signed by him, although careful inspection suggests that several of them were initialled by another artist. A comprehensive gallery of the illustrations signed by Martin is reproduced below, as well as a brief series of extracts showing a variety of his signatures: Martin '80 (note the little bird perched on the T stroke); M.L. Flanery in full (generally used just once at the start of a novel or volume); MLF (typical initials used in most instances); MLF with apparent caricature (this appears just once, in "The Poor Scholar"); and apparent self-portrait in a crowd scene (this appears in "Ned M'Keown", and is remarkably similar to the previous caricature).

signed as Martin '80 signed as M.L. Flanery signed as MLF signed as MLF with apparent self-portrait apparent self-portrait in crowd scene

The importance of his published work lies beyond its considerable artistic merit. His illustrations provide a contemporary glimpse of the lifestyle of our nineteenth century ancestors through the artistic depiction of their world. His attention to minute detail is tremendously important, and every item of clothing, furniture, weaponry etc. is carefully drawn to provide an authentic reference to times past.

The index for the American edition is given below, together with an account of how many illustrated plates which may be correctly attributed to Martin.

Volume One

"Willy Reilly" (16 plates)

"Fardorougha the Miser" (1 plate of 4)

"The Black Baronet; or, The Chronicles of Ballytrain" (1 plate of 5)

"The Evil Eye; or, The Black Spectre" (2 plates of 5)

Volume Two

"Jane Sinclair; or, The Fawn of Springvale" (3 plates)

"Lha Dhu; or, The Dark Day" (1 plate)

"The Dead Boxer" (2 plates)

"Ellen Durcan" (1 plate)

"The Proctor's Daughter" (1 plate)

"Valentine M'Clutchy, The Irish Agent" (7 plates)