Edward Whelan

Born 1835 (Circa)
Died 21 January 1871

Active: 1853 - 1871

Country of birth: Ireland

Country of death: United States

Stone carver, sculptor

Born in Cork, Ireland. Edward worked with his uncles James and John O'Shea. One of their first known commissions is the carvings for the Museum Buildings at Trinity College Dublin (from 1853).

Five years later Benjamin Woodward brought the O'Sheas and Whelan over from Ireland to work on the Museum of Natural History in Oxford. Between 1858-61 they executed a series of elaborate carvings of animals and plant forms based on live specimens provided by the University's Botanic Garden. Funds for the carving and decoration of the museum came from donations, and some of the original plans had to be modified because insufficient subscriptions were raised. James O'Shea was responsible for most of the carving on the exterior of the Museum, and finished work in June 1861. John O'Shea and Edward Whelan focused on the capitals, corbels and piers in the Lower Court of the Museum. John O'Shea was paid off on 12 May 1860, and Whelan completed his contribution in October 1861. In 1879 James O'Shea was brought back to Oxford to carve the capitals on the inner porch.

Between 1859-64 the O'Sheas and Whelan collaborated with the sculptor Thomas Woolner (who had created two statues for the Natural History Museum in Oxford and some exterior carvings) on the Manchester Assize Courts under the architect, Alfred Waterhouse. Deane is said to have employed Whelan to execute carvings for the Meadow Buildings and Fleet Street Crown Life Office.

In 1867 Whelan moved to the USA and settled in Brooklyn, New York where he worked on the new Prospect Park. (The 1870 American Census Returns do not provide an address but he was living in ward 20.) Edward died in 1871 and is buried in Holy Cross Cemetery, Brooklyn.

The record of Whelan's arrival in America is contained in: New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 Detail: Year: 1867; Arrival: New York, United States; Microfilm serial: M237; Microfilm roll: M237_279; Line 51; List number: 434. The details of his death are given in: Death Certificate #0589 Kings County, Brooklyn. NYC Department of Records Municipal Archives, 31 Chambers St., NY, NY 10007. NYC.gov/records (accessed 26 October 2011).

This entry contains information supplied by Elise Whelan-Terrin, and articles by Andrew Tierney from 'Making Victorian Dublin' see https://makingvictoriandublin.com/sculpture/o-shea-brothers/ and https://makingvictoriandublin.com/sculpture/the-museum-building/ (both accessed 20 September 2022), and also from Blair J. Gilbert 'Puncturing an Oxford Myth: the Truth about the ‘Infamous’ O’Sheas and the Oxford University Museum', Oxoniensia, Vol 74, 2009, (c) Oxfordshire Architectural and Historical Society https://www.oxoniensia.org/volumes/2009/gilbert.pdf (accessed 20 September 2022).

Citing this record

'Edward Whelan', Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851-1951, University of Glasgow History of Art and HATII, online database 2011 [http://sculpture.gla.ac.uk/view/person.php?id=ann_1295118397, accessed 09 Jun 2023]