Henry MacManus

Henry MacManus (c. 1810 in Co. Monaghan – 1878) was an Irish artist.

Career

As a painter, MacManus exhibited at the Royal Hibernian Academy, later becoming its Honorary Professor of Painting. He also exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1839-41 as well as the British Institute and the OWS. His paintings featured historical scenes and depictions of everyday Irish life.

MacManus was employed in London from 1837–1844 and was a head teacher at Somerset House before being appointed headmaster at the new Glasgow School of Design (now the Glasgow School of Art) in 1844. After receiving initial praise followed by a salary increase at the suggestion of the governors, difficulty erupted between MacManus and the school's committee of management. He resigned from the Glasgow School of Design in 1848 and moved to Dublin where he would hold the position as headmaster at the Dublin School of Art until 1862.^[1]

Alongside the sculptor John Hogan, MacManus presented Daniel O'Connell a National Cap at the monster meeting of Mullagh-mast, causing celebre as English journalists insisted on identifying the cap as the crown of Ireland.^[2]

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