An Irishman's Diary on Launt Thompson

Lancelot (Launt) Thompson was born in the town of Abbeyleix in Co. Laois, Ireland in February 1833. He emigrated to America with his widowed mother in 1847. He learned how to sculpt and by the 1870s, he was one of the most sought after sculptors in America.

Read my Irishman's Diary about him in today's Irish Times newspaper here.

Photograph of Launt Thompson (1833-1894). Image source.

Due to the devastation wrought by the Potato Famine in Ireland (1845-1849), over 1 million people left the island at around the same time as Thompson, setting up home in the United States, Canada and to a lesser extent, Australia.

However, given the fact that he became so celebrated in his new home of America and then seems to have been almost completely forgotten, Thompson's story is a little unusual.

If you would like to find out more about Thompson, list to this podcast by Miriam Nyhan Grey from the Glucksman Ireland House Radio Hour with Michael Burke.