PL E M SA George Russell (AE) LURGAN & NORTH ARMAGH
Brian McKernan Michael McKernan
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George William Russell ‘AE’ 1867-1935
eorge William Russell is probably the most distinguished son of Lurgan in the town's entire 400 year history. He was a celebrated painter, poet, editor, land reformer, political thinker, commentator and philosopher. He was a leader of Ireland's literary revival. As a committed pacifist, he was a constant voice of reason and wisdom throughout Ireland's most turbulent years from 1890 to 1930.
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In Ireland AE was valued by leaders from every walk of life for his wise counsel and insight. He was also hugely admired internationally by such major figures as Mahatma Gandhi and US President Roosevelt. AE was born at 12 William Street Lurgan on 10th April 1867 into a lower middle-class Ulster Protestant family. A blue plaque adorns the house today. He was baptised in Shankill Parish Church and spent his formative years in Lurgan. His family later lived at the North Street gate lodge of the Brownlow estate and he attended The Model School in Brownlow Terrace. Although his family moved to Dublin in 1878, AE never lost his Northern connections. He frequently visited family and friends in Lurgan, Drumgor and Armagh city. He went on to become one of the most remarkable and inspirational personalities and was much loved in Ireland and beyond. When AE died in England in 1935, the ship transporting his body back to Ireland was given an impressive official airborne escort. After lying in State at the headquarters of the Irish cooperative movement in Merrion Square, in the centre of Dublin, his funeral and burial took place at Mount Jerome cemetery, Haroldscross, Dublin’s. At the time the ‘Irish Times’ newspaper recorded that an estimated 500,000 mourners had thronged the mile-long funeral procession of this popular and respected public man.
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Contents 10
“AE”
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An introduction to Lurgan - AE's home town
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Places in Lurgan with AE Russell connections Brownlow House Lurgan Park & Lake North Street, Lurgan The Model School Lurgan Railway William Street & Russell Quarter Shankill Parish Church The Mechanics Institute Lurgan Town Hall Windsor Avenue
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AE Russell artistic connections with Lurgan
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AE Russell, Pamela Travers and Mary Poppins
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AE’s other connections with North Armagh
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Drumgor Area
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Armagh City Sheils Almhouses St Mark's Church and Graveyard
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George Russell (AE) and Irish Politics
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AE Russell’s Unique Personality
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Death of George Russell AE
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Introduction
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Introduction
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his book is an introduction to George William Russell – better known as ‘AE’ - who was born in Lurgan and spent his formative years in the town. The pages that follow document his links to Lurgan and North Armagh.
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AE was an all-round genius: He became one of Ireland’s most important public figures over the period 1895-1930, a celebrated writer, poet and painter. He became the intellectual powerhouse of his time and the key figure in Ireland’s cultural revival. He was deeply spiritual yet independent of organised religion. He used his status and influence primarily to improve the lives of others. He was a lifelong pacifist and the first major public figure to champion women’s rights.
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A growing number of people in Lurgan and North Armagh have come to the realisation that a true giant came from and maintained his connections with this area. Yet AE has not so far been given his proper elevated place in Irish history, either nationally or even locally. Some of his contemporaries, perhaps more headline-making and self-advancing at the time, have been credited with many of his achievements. Yet the more anyone studies AE and learns about his life, the more impressed they inevitably become.
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This book hopefully gives a glimpse of Russell as a hugely impressive figure who hailed from Lurgan. It celebrates his real connection with Lurgan and North Armagh. Readers will see that although a few sites have changed, most of the places closely associated with Russell look much the same today as when he was around them over 100 years ago. Finally, it should be said that AE is a unifying figure: He detested conflict and division and dedicated himself entirely to problem-solving and to the service of others. So today, all communities in Lurgan, North Armagh and throughout Northern Ireland and beyond can appreciate George Russell ‘AE’ and celebrate his remarkable life and legacy.
How George Russell became known as ‘AE’ AE was an all-round genius: He became one of Ireland’s most important public figures over the period 1895-1930, a celebrated writer, poet and painter. 10
As a writer producing a wide range of material including poetry and prose, Russell often adopted different pen-names. Once, when he opened a book at random the word ‘Aeon’ seemed to jump out at him from the page. He was charmed by the fact that ‘Aeon’ was an old term meaning the earliest living creatures and he immediately used it as a pen-name for a philosophical article. However the printer could only make out the first two letters of his writing and thus ‘AE’ was typed at the foot of the article. AE approved the change which stayed with him thereafter. 11