Edward Lee

Maeve’s Irish Citizen Army activities while an employee of the business.
Maeve was arrested during Easter Week and taken from the Rathmines
premises, so he was obviously aware of her membership of the I.C.A.
During Roger Casement’s trial, Maeve asked her employer’s permission to
travel to London with a petition. She was granted leave to go. 36 As a large
employer, Edward Lee would no doubt have been kept informed as to his
staff’s political activities by the Dublin Metropolitan Police. It is probable
that he turned a blind eye to the activities of some of his staff, but we will
never know. Ernest Kavanagh was shot dead outside Liberty Hall on the
morning of the 25 th April, 1916. Maeve would be employed by Edward Lee
and Co. Ltd., until her retirement in 1956.
Sir Hugh Lane
As the drama of the Lockout was being played out on the main
stage, other interesting events were taking place in the art
world. Sir Hugh Lane, a nephew of Lady Augusta Gregory
and a major collector of French Impressionist art, was determined to
have a new permanent home for his collection – a gallery worthy of
Dublin and the Irish people. In 1907 he had successfully lobbied Dublin
Corporation to make available No 17 Harcourt Street as a new Municipal
Gallery, to house his paintings. However, this location soon became
inadequate for his growing collection and Lane now pushed for a new
purpose built gallery. His preference was for it to be located on the site
of the Ha’penny Bridge, over the River Liffey. Plans for this were drawn
up by the eminent architect Sir Edwin Lutyens. In November 1912,
frustrated with Dublin Corporation’s indecision on the matter, Hugh Lane
informed the Lord Mayor that unless a suitable site was agreed forthwith,
he would remove his paintings from view the following January. Lane’s
ambitious plan for the proposed site also met with opposition from the
business establishment. There was much heated discussion in the papers
and both William Martin Murphy and Edward Lee became involved in
36 Military Archives: WMSP34REF10925MAEVEMCDOWELL page 29
44 Edward Lee