Augusta Gregory

Lisa Stillman (1865-1946)

Augusta Gregory

1893

Courtesy of Colin Smythe

Gregory commissioned this pastel portrait of herself in 1893, from artist Lisa Stillman, using money earned from publishing one of her early stories set in the countryside around Coole. As she recorded, "I wanted to leave [my son] Robert something more durable than a photograph, & something pleasing enough for [a future] Mrs. Robert not to turn out of the room!" Aged 40 when the portrait was made, she was just beginning to find new purpose and focus after being widowed and was becoming aware of the nascent Irish literary movement. Later in 1893, she traveled alone to the Aran Islands, spending five days storm-bound "amongst people speaking scarcely any English "an experience that galvanized her discovery of Irish culture, language, and lore.