Irish Heroic
The costumes and details of this pack are in the spirit of "The Heroic Period of Irish History".
Irish “Heroic” Playing Cards, 1919
designed and drawn on stone by Irish artists of the Irish Decorative Art Association
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The costumes and details of this pack are in the spirit of “The Heroic Period of Irish History”. Published by: W. & G. Baird Ltd (Belfast), and manufactured by Chas Goodall & Son Ltd. (London), 1919. A similar "Irish Historic" pack was also published. |
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Above: the Kings and Queens are characters from the most famous Irish romances, myth and legends, and also represent the four provinces of Ireland, whilst the Jacks are charioteers. The cards were printed in London by Charles Goodall & Son Ltd; a later slightly different printing with the court cards substantially redrawn was produced by the Irish Playing Card Mfg Co., Cork.
‘Bricriu’ the Joker (“of the venom tongue”) was the chief cowherd of Queen Maeve, a satirist, poet and a notorious mischief maker.
See also: Irish ‘Historic’ pack►
References: Goodall, Michael H.: "The Fennell series of Irish Heroic & Historic Playing Cards" in The Playing-Card, Journal of the IPCS, Vol.37, No.3, 2009, pp.169-175.
By Simon Wintle
Member since February 01, 1996
View ArticlesCurator and editor of the World of Playing Cards since 1996. He is a former committee member of the IPCS and was graphics editor of The Playing-Card journal for many years. He has lived at various times in Chile, England and Wales and is currently living in Extremadura, Spain. Simon's first limited edition pack of playing cards was a replica of a seventeenth century traditional English pack, which he produced from woodblocks and stencils.
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