William Paulet Carey and Irish Caricature, 1780–92

Abstract

Though best known for his involvement with the United Irishmen and his brief career as a newspaper editor, William Paulet Carey (1768–1848) was one of the first, and most interesting practitioners of graphic satire in Ireland during its inaugural phase. Having demonstrated his potential with an artistically indifferent caricature of the Gordon Riots in 1780, he acquired a fuller knowledge of the craft engraving copy plates for William Allen, then Dublin’s primary print seller. Subsequently, Carey sought, unsuccessfully, to make his mark in London in 1783–84, though he did produce a number of distinctive engravings in the Whig cause. Back in Dublin, he resumed his relationship with William Allen, in the course of which he produced a series of superior copies of William Bunbury’s single sheets and smaller engravings for a Dublin edition of the Geoffrey Gambado’s Annals of Horsemanship . Carey possessed strong political opinions, and having manifested his unease at the energizing of Irish conservativism with caricatures critical of the advocates of ‘Protestant Ascendancy’ in 1786–87, he prioritized literary satire until the early 1790s when he joined the United Irishmen and established a radical newspaper. However, his failure, other than on one occasion, to use his artistic skills in the radical cause deprived Irish radicalism of a potentially important means of promoting their cause.