Exhibition Gallery

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group shot of freelancing

Billy Ireland was active as a freelance cartoonist during his early years in Columbus.


(Item listing from top left to bottom right)

Cartoons by W.A. Ireland Published in the Columbus Evening Dispatch: A Collection of Cartoons Dealing with Local and National Affairs. Compiled by Moss & Harrington, Columbus, Ohio. August 1, 1907.

Accountants Reports and Exhibitions re The American Association of Public Accountants at Columbus Ohio. Cover illustration by Billy Ireland. Columbus: Goodloe, Keller & Co., 1906. Gift of K. Kauffman.

Club Men of Columbus in Caricature. Drawings by W.A. Ireland, H.J. Westerman, Ry Rohn East Aurora NY: Roycrofters, 1911. Gift of Preston Wolfe.

Columbus Men Worth While: Presented in Cartoon by Will Ireland. [no publisher or date] Gift of the William J. Studer Endowment.

“Espejo” Intermezzo-twostep by Le Roy Carle. Cover illustration by Billy Ireland. Columbus: Martin Greenwald, 1905. Laura M. Mueller Collection.

Teck Haskins at Ohio State by W.A. Ireland. [Columbus]: Lea-Mar Press, 1908? Milton Caniff Collection.

cartoons bi/columbus spread

January 1917 Issue of Cartoons Magazine


The City Beautiful movement emerged in the late nineteenth century as urban areas attempted to respond to poverty and overcrowding by providing civic improvements. Cartoons Magazine ran a series titled “Cities Beautiful” illustrated by many of the nation’s leading cartoonists. As a proud booster of his city, Ireland drew this portrait of Columbus, which was published in the January 1917 issue of the magazine.

flowers for the living

Flowers for the Living


Billy Ireland often celebrated the kindness and generosity of local residents by presenting “Flowers for the Living” in his weekly drawings. This affectionate tribute from Evans, who was often Billy Ireland’s substitute at the Columbus Dispatch when he was on vacation, is a good summation of his life and work. Evans drew this page as part of the celebration of Ireland’s twenty-fifth anniversary at the newspaper in 1923.

Ray Evans, 1887-1954. Flowers for the Living. 1923. Billy Ireland Collection
Aesop up to a date

Aesop Up to Date


Billy Ireland mentored several young cartoonists including Noel Sickles and Art Poinier. Milton Caniff is the best-known cartoonist to have been mentored by Billy Ireland, who hired him as a staff artist at the Columbus Dispatch when he arrived to attend The Ohio State University in the fall of 1925. When Milton Caniff approached Billy Ireland for a job shortly, Ireland sent him away with instructions to make a drawing that would knock him off of his feet. The young man returned the next day with this drawing and Ireland hired him. Caniff said that this job made it possible for him to complete his college education and he was always grateful to Ireland.

Milton Caniff, 1907-1988. Aesop Up to Date. 1925. Milton Caniff Collection.
Billy Ireland passes away suddenly

Billy Ireland Passes Away


Billy Ireland died suddenly on May 29, 1935 at the age of 56. [obit. front page of Cols. Dispatch]