Edward Smyth

Edward Smyth (1749 – 2 August 1812) was an Irish sculptor, known as the "Phidias of Ireland".

Early life The son of a stonecutter, Smyth was born in County Meath, Ireland. His father moved to Dublin in 1750. Smyth attended the Dublin Society schools and was first apprenticed by Simon Vierpyl at Bachelor's Walk. He likely assisted Vierpyl with his work on the Royal Exchange. In 1772, his full-size statue model of Charles Lucas won a competition held by Dublin merchants, and was placed in the Royal Exchange in 1779. Despite this, he did not receive any important commissions for a number of years.

Career

From 1781, he was employed by Henry Darley, who was in turn an employee of James Gandon. Under Darley he worked on mantelpieces and decorative plastering. These included the Four Courts, the Irish House of Lords, and King's Inns.

During Gandon's renovation of the Rotunda, he sculpted an ox-head frieze beneath the roof. In 1787, Smyth completed statues to his own design above the Westmoreland Street entrance (the "Lords' Entrance" added by Gandon) of the Irish Houses of Parliament. In 1807, he carved the statues above the main entrance of the same building (which had been taken over by the Bank of Ireland) on College Green. These represent Hibernia flanked by Commerce and Fidelity. He was buried in St Thomas's churchyard, later removed to Mount Jerome cemetery in 1925. Several of his works were renovated in the 20th century by his great-grandson, George Smyth.