DEATH OF WILLIAM SHEEHAN
On Monday 24 September, William Sheehan died in Corbally, Glanmire, Co. Cork. His death was registered on 4 October, by his sister Louise, who was also by his side when he died. The certified cause of death was Pulmonary Tuberculosis which he had suffered for six months. He was 29 years old and his ‘Rank, Profession or Occupation’ was listed as ‘Artist’. This timeline of his illness may suggest that he was ill during his unhappy Gibson Bequest Scholarship in Madrid.

A native of Cork, artist William Sheehan (1894-1923) studied at both the Crawford Municipal School of Art and the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art (now National College of Art and Design). In 1923, he became the first recipient of the Gibson Scholarship, which recognised the ‘unusual talent and good habits’ of an artist. At the time, expert advisor George Atkinson (1880-1941) noted that Sheehan was ‘the most talented young man in Ireland, with the exception of [Seán] Keating.’ 

IRISH CATTLE TRADE ASSOCIATION MEETING
‘Mr Nagle said he regretted to have to refer to the death of Mr. William Sheehan, a young man of great artistic abilities, and son of Mr. Michael Sheehan, a respected member of the association. He proposed that under the sad circumstances the meeting should stand adjourned, and a vote of condolence be conveyed to the bereaved parents and relatives of the deceased. …The Chairman, in declaring the motion passed, said he greatly regretted the sad occasion. The meeting then adjourned.’

[Extract from Cork Examiner, 1 October 1923 p8]

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