Estella Solomons (1882-1968) was an Irish artist and revolutionary.

A member of Cumann na mBan, she famously stored ammunition in her family’s vegetable patch. She took the anti-Treaty side during the Civil War and resigned her teaching post when required to take an oath of allegiance to the British crown. Her studio in Pearse Street was raided by Free State troops as a known safehouse for anti-Treaty irregulars.

Estella visited Marsh’s Library on at least ten occasions between January and March 1923. Her etchings of the empty interior can be interpreted as an escape from the traumas of the period.

Images are reproduced by kind permission of the trustees of the estate of Estella Solomons.

Citation:
A Civil War Retreat?,
Marsh's Library Exhibits: ‘Changed Utterly?’ curated by Elaine Doyle and Jason McElligott,
accessed May 20, 2025,
https://web.marshlibrary.ie/digi/exhibits/show/irishrevolution/item/640