In this special Heritage Week talk Alan Phelan of the Pearse Museum will explore the art of St. Enda’s and the school’s connection with the Irish contemporary art movement of its time.

St. Enda’s School was founded by Patrick Pearse, leader of the 1916 Rising, as an innovative and progressive school which put much emphasis on the importance of art in education. Patrick Pearse had a keen and informed interest in contemporary Irish art and his brother Willie was an accomplished sculptor who also taught art in the school. The Pearse brothers made a concerted attempt to fill their school with inspirational pieces of contemporary and historic art, many of which survive in the collection of the Pearse Museum.