Thomas Kirk (sculptor)

Thomas Kirk (1781 – 19 April 1845) was an Irish sculptor.

He was born in Cork. He studied at the Dublin Society's School where he won prizes in 1797 and 1800. He later worked for Henry Darley, a skillful builder and stone-cutter from Meath, based in Abbey Street, Dublin. Kirk was acclaimed for his fine relief work on mantle-pieces and monuments. Much of his work can be seen in the Royal College of Surgeons, the Royal Dublin Society and in the library of Trinity College, Dublin. He worked on committees in the Royal Dublin Society and he was a member of the Royal Hibernian Academy.[1]

Nelson's Pillar c. 1830

He executed numerous church memorials throughout the country. His favourite relief was one of the Good Samaritan, which was well suited for memorials to either doctors or clergymen.[1]

One of his earliest commissions, which appeared in 1809, was the statue of Nelson for Nelson's Pillar in O'Connell Street, Dublin. This monument was destroyed by an explosion on March 8, 1966.[2] Another of Kirk’s commissions was the statue, in Limerick, of Thomas Spring Rice, a former MP and Chancellor of the Exchequer. Another was a bust of Arabella Cope whose second husband, the Lord Whitworth who was then Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. Commissioned in 1818 it was displayed at the Society of Artists in Hawkins Street in 1819 alongside a bust of her husband by John Smyth. The bust of Arabella can be seen on display at Knole.

He died in 1845 and is interred in Mount Jerome Cemetery, Dublin. His sons, Joseph Robinson Kirk (1821-1894) and William Boyton Kirk (1824-1900), daughter Eliza Kirk (b. 1812) and grandson Thomas Stewart Kirk (1848-1879) were also sculptors.[3] His eldest daughter Mary Anne was a Greek scholar and accomplished musician.[4]

After his death his works were exhibited at the 1852 Irish Industrial Exhibition, the 1852 annual exhibition of the Royal Hibernian Academy and the 1872 Dublin Exhibition of Arts, Industries and Manufactures.[5]