The Ephemera of Eternity: The Irish Catholic Memorial Card as Material Culture

                The author of The Ephemera of Eternity: The Irish Catholic Memorial Card as Material Culture is Mary Ann Bolger. Mary is a lecturer in design history and theory at Dublin Institute of Technology. She holds MA in History of Design at the Royal College of Art and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Currently, she is pursuing postgraduate research at the RCA about the topic of post-war Irish graphic design. She is a member of the Institute of Designers in Ireland, the Institute of Creative Advertising and Design and the Design History Society. Her research interests are in typography, visual culture and also the material culture of religion.   

                She starts her page of writing using one page specifically to highlight the memorial card that relates with the graphic design with red colour font and big size font. This is to emphasize the importance of trends and style graphic design influences the memorial card design. In her introduction, she explains a little background of Ireland. She wrote a quote from Maurice Craig, an architectural historian, ‘Ireland, it has often been remarked, is a land of graveyards’. She then proceeds to expand the information of Irish culture. The memorial card is a mass-produced object personally link with Irish Catholic grief. It is not unique to Ireland, or even Catholicism, but I became largely aspect of Irish Catholic funeral practice.

                The typical characteristic of memorial card is single or bi-fold card, about two inches by four, with a holy picture on the obverse, typically an image of Christ, the Virgin or saint, sometimes reproduction of famous, often counter-Reformation, art works. The memorial card will be sent out, usually from the family, a few months after the funeral. The aim of it is to solicit prayers for the deceased relative, also an opportunity for families to affirm public identity, religious compliance, and status. There is a difference between the memorial card in twentieth century compared to in the 1950s and 1960s.

                Colleen McDannell said that, ‘by the end of the nineteenth century, I’art Saint-Sulpice became the international style of Catholic Church art. From Ireland to Mexico to India to the United States, local art was replaced by goods either imported from France or copied from French standards’. Memorial cards were commonly kept in a missal or prayer book to mark the anniversary or birthday of the deceased. This is as a reminder to celebrate the anniversary or birthday of the deceased. The memorial card photograph is a sign of revolution and process of graphic design in styling the memorial card. The earliest memorial cards that were printed back in Germany, drew on conventional religious iconography of mourning images such as crucifixion and the Virgin as Master Dolorosa. These may have been chosen to represent their efficacy as indulgence images than for their iconography suitability.

                Memorial cards had much common with relic cards. They believe that when the photograph becomes detached from the memorial card, it can recall the vulnerability of the body. The photograph usually tends to be fleeting, often cut down from a snapshot. Today technology make it easier to remove the details of the background. Overall, this book is suitable for people who want to learn more about memorial card and Irish culture.