Kirk, Thomas (1781–1845), sculptor, was born in Cork in 1781, the only son of William Kirk, originally of Edinburgh before he settled in Newry, Co. Down, and his wife, Elizabeth Kirk (née Bible). The couple had moved to live in Cork just before Thomas's birth. He studied sculpture at the Dublin Society schools where he was awarded medals in 1797 and 1800. On returning to Cork he worked for the stone cutter Henry Darley, carving chimney pieces and other decorative architectural features. He also worked in this capacity for the architect Thomas Deane (qv). His ambition led him to set up as an independent sculptor in Dublin. At his studio at 21 Jervis Street his assistants included Thomas Farrell (qv). His reputation was established when, in 1808, he was awarded the commission for the thirteen-foot-high statue of Nelson (fragments latterly in the Civic Museum, Dublin) to surmount the pillar of the monument to him in Sackville Street (latterly O'Connell Street).
He is best known for his portrait busts and funerary monuments. Examples, such as his bust of Henry John Clements (1843; NGI), show him working within the traditional conventions of classicism, with his use of drapery rather than contemporary clothing giving a sense of gravitas to the sitter. His statue of Sir Sidney Smith (1845; National Maritime Museum, Greenwich) was much admired in his lifetime for the delicacy of modelling and the expressiveness of the figure. There are also a number of busts by him in the collection of the RCSI. He was patronised by the lord lieutenant Earl De Grey (qv) (as was his one-time student Thomas Farrell), for whom he produced two pieces of garden statuary for his house, Wrest Park, Bedfordshire. No doubt his considerable success was in part due to his being ‘a man of simple manners, honourable and upright in all his dealings and scrupulously exact and punctual in carrying out his contracts’ (Strickland, i, 588).
He was a prominent figure in Dublin artistic circles. Until 1821 he was a regular exhibitor with the Society of Artists. In 1823 he was a founder member of the RHA and went on to exhibit an enormous number of works there. He also exhibited extensively in England, at the Royal Academy in London in 1825, 1837 and again in 1839, at the Liverpool Academy in 1822, in 1832 at the Society of British Artists and in 1840 at the British Institution. In 1808 he married Eliza Robinson, with whom he had seven children, four daughters and three sons. He died in Dublin on 19 April 1845 and was buried at Mount Jerome cemetery.
The sculpture of a female figure surmounting his tomb is by his fifth child and eldest son, Joseph Robinson Kirk (1821–94), who, after training with his father, spent a year in Rome in 1843. He was enabled to do this by the successful sale of his marble sculpture Andromeda, for which he had been awarded a prize by the Irish Art Union. Having entered TCD in 1838, he graduated BA in 1843. He began to exhibit at the RHA in 1840, was made an associate member in 1845 and became a full member in 1854. He also exhibited at the Royal Academy, London (1846–62). In 1852 he was appointed master of the Dublin Society modelling school. Among his best known works are the figures of Divinity, Law, Medicine, and Science on the campanile in TCD; a monument to C. D. Lindsay, bishop of Kildare (1804–46), in Christ Church cathedral; and a bronze plaque depicting the siege of Seringapatam on the Wellington memorial in Phoenix Park, Dublin. He married Jane Rachel in 1845. He died 30 August 1894 in Dublin and was buried at Mount Jerome cemetery.
The second of Thomas Kirk's four daughters, Eliza Kirk (b. 1812
Thomas Kirk's second son, William Boyton Kirk (1824–1900), trained as a sculptor with his father and studied at the Dublin Society schools. He entered TCD in 1845 but left without taking a degree. He first exhibited at the RHA in 1844 and was made an associate member in 1850. His works include the figure of Justice for the Belfast courthouse. He designed the ‘Shakespeare’ dessert service for the Worcester china works, which was shown at the Dublin Exhibition of 1853, and Belleek porcelain between 1848 and 1857. However, his life-long ambition was to become a clergyman and he entered the church in 1860, at which time he settled in England. He was vicar at Holy Trinity, Birkenhead, and later at St Peter's, Ashton-under-Lyne. In 1873 he resigned as ARHA and became an honorary member of the academy. He illustrated Shakespeare's Midsummer night's dream (1853) and wrote Poems on St Peter's church, Ashton-under-Lyne (1883); other writings include The immaculate conception or the martyrs of Santiago, The sailor's complaint, The martyrs of Antioch, and Antiqities of Ashton-under-Lyne and neighbourhood. He died 5 July 1900 at Ashton-under-Lyne. In 1853 he married Sarah Watson Mahony, daughter of Denis Fitzgerald Mahony of Co. Limerick.