On 31st May 2025, a commemorative plaque was erected on a a house in Walkinstown Avenue, where one of Ireland’s most quietly influential painters once lived. Jonathan Wade, born in 1941 on Thomas Street, moved to Walkinstown with his family in 1952 — a relocation that would shape his life and art.

It was in this house that a teenage Wade first began to explore painting, drawn to the stark beauty of the industrial and the everyday. His early canvases emerged here, often reflecting the contrast between domestic life and the city’s working infrastructure.

His debut solo exhibition took place in 1966, with early acclaim following quickly — including a show at the Royal Hibernian Academy just two years later. But it was his 1970 exhibition at the Project Arts Centre, featuring 37 paintings, that truly captured his vision: rusted docklands, derelict sites, and the remnants of labour, rendered with a raw and unflinching eye.

Wade’s work was both artistic and political. His canvases, often described as industrial elegies, carried the weight of his leftist convictions — viewing the decline of working-class industry not only as physical decay, but as social loss.

His life was cut tragically short in January 1973, when he died in a motorcycle accident shortly after visiting his mother, still living in Walkinstown. He was just 31.

Today, his paintings remain in public collections including the Hugh Lane Gallery and the Arts Council. His influence endures, not only through his work, but in the way he saw — and taught us to see — the city’s neglected edges.

Speaking at the unveiling, Councillor Ray Cunningham remarked:
“Our landscapes may have changed since Jonathan’s time — we are better now at protecting our environment — but it is just as important to honour those who bore witness to the overlooked. The artist sees what others pass by. That eye is a gift, and today we mark its legacy.”

Jonathan Wade’s plaque was nominated by the Crumlin & Walkinstown History Group. The plaque was installed by the Dublin City Council Commemorations and Naming Committee, whose work ensures that stories like Wade’s are not forgotten — not only as history, but as part of the living city.

• View our profile on Jonathan Wade
• View article on Plaques of Dublin
• View article in Irish Independent on memorial