Irish Cousins

Ruth Johnstone Pollexfen was born on 27 September 1885 at 15 Upper Mallow Street, Limerick Ireland, the third oldest of nine children. Her father Frederick Henry Pollexfen, the son of a successful Sligo shipping merchant, was connected to the famous Irish Yeats family through the marriage of his sister, Susan, to artist John Butler Yeats. It was this family who would be a lifeline for Ruth when her parent’s marriage ended. The impact of this family disruption would be profound for Ruth.

At the age of 15, she joined the Yeats’ London household as a ward to her cousin, Susan Mary ‘Lily’ Yeats and was surrounded by the creative and artistic talents of Lily, Lily’s younger sister, Elizabeth Corbet ‘Lolly’ Yeats and brothers, William Butler Yeats and John Butler Yeats. Their creative practices were aligned to the Irish Celtic Revival movement which encouraged the preservation and appreciation of Celtic art, literature and language and to the English Arts and Crafts movement which espoused the importance of nature as inspiration, simplicity and honesty in design and traditional craftsmanship. These principles would underline the business ventures they undertook in Dublin following their return to Ireland in 1901 and the work they produced.