Tom Steele by Negative Space Art Collective

Artwork

Tom Steele by Negative Space Art Collective

Negative Space Art Collective

Street Art

A man in a blue shirt sits on a rock in the river looking across out a girl

A man in a blue shirt sits on a rock in a river gazing over at a lady next to a house with the Ennis Courthouse in the backgound — Tom Steele by Rachel Macmanus. Pic Credit Ana Colomer

Painting of a man in a blue shirt gazing into the distance — Tom Steele by Rachel Macmanus

A shoe posed on a rock by a river — Tom Steele's Artwork - River Detail

Black horses pulling a black hearse against a blue backdrop — Tom Steele's Hearse

A reference to Tom Steele, (1788–1848), an engineer and political activist from Ennis. The image is wrapped around the pumphouse and comprises of two scenes depicting Tom Steele.

On the front of the box, facing into the park, you see him sitting on Steeles Rock, a rock located on the banks of the river Fergus, found slightly up the road, gazing across the rover towards the home of the object of his affection, Miss Matilda Crowe of Abbeyfield House.

On the back of the box, facing the New Road, we see Tom in his later years, dressed as an undertaker and driving a hearse drawn by six black-plumed horses. He generally carried a coffin marked “Repeal” in the hearse when he attended political rallies. The box is painted to work from all viewpoints, and uses colours that reflect the surrounding landscape.