Bert O'Connell
1885–1917 (age 32)
Biography
Bert O'Connell, born 1885, was an accomplished etcher whose art captured everyday life with delicate lines and careful observation, and when war came he turned from the studio to the frontline without hesitation. He remained devoted to detail, encouraging his comrades to find small comforts in letters or sketches even amid the din of battle.
He died in 1917 and is remembered at Birr Cross Roads Cemetery, where the same steady eye that served him as an artist now looks out in memory over the fields he once crossed.