Scroll down for English text… Maidin cheomhar tais agus scamall ins an spéir, d’fhágamar Baile Átha Cliath agus muid ag triall ar Cheantar na nOileán.  Bí cinnte go raibh ár spéaclaí gréine linn mar bhí a fhios againn go mbeadh an ghrian ag scoilteadh na gcloch mar is gnách, thall ansin i gConamara. Agus bhí!  Chuaigh muid ag snámh an chéad oíche ag Trá an Dóilín sa Cheathrú Rua. Grúpa oileán é Ceantar na nOileán atá suite idir Cuan Chill Chiaráin agus Cuan an Fhir Mhóir, i bhfad siar ó Chathair na Gaillimhe.  Tá na h-oileáin ceangailte leis an mhórthír le droichid a tógadh ag d ..read more

Francisco Goya: “There is no one to help them” No hay quien los socorra – there is no one to help them.  That’s the title of the print above by Francisco Goya (1746-1828) from his “Disasters of War” series.  The series is thought by art historians to be a visual protest against the violence of the Peninsular War in Spain (1808 – 1814) but it seems equally relevant today.  Just look at his titles… Although he was a court painter, Goya breaks with a number of painterly traditions with these works.  He rejects the bombastic heroics of much Spanish war art and instead, he shows ..read more

Still from the film “An Tobar agus an Chloch” Do you know which is harder – granite or quartz?  Well, I didn’t – until last weekend at the Dunlavin Arts Festival in Co. Wicklow. There’s a holy well near Dunlavin, in a place called Tor Neannta (meaning the mound of nettles).  There was a passage grave and stone circle there once but it was destroyed in the nineteenth century.  All that survived was the carved ‘Tournant Stone’ which is now in the National Museum. But a special project was commissioned by the festival this year to ‘return’ the stone to Tor Neannta.  The docume ..read more

Tá leasú ag Ó Ceallaigh ‘s ní gaineamh é ná aoileach, Ach saighdiúirí tapaidh dhéanfadh gaisce le píce; Do fágadh iad in Eachroim ina sraitheanna sínte, Mar bheadh feoil chapaill ag madraí á sraoilleadh. Och, Ochón… (Scroll down for text in English)  Ní fios cé scríobh an dán seo faoi Eachroim an Áir agus Pádraig Sairséal – ach m’anam, nach bhfuil an slad céanna le feiceáil againn gach oíche ar an dteilifís – le naoi mhí anuas.  Ní eachtra sa stair é seo ach slad atá ag tarlúint os ár gcomhair agus gan éinne sásta stop a chur leis. Ach tá scéal eile agam daoibh inniu, scéal deas a ..read more

First – do you know what a favicon is?  It’s that tiny picture or logo that you see at the very top of most website pages.  In my case, you can see my blackbird.  I’ll come back to that in a minute but… I’ve spent the last two days clearing out the studio (it’s now in a worse mess than before) but it’ll be better tomorrow, hopefully.  It’s not a bad thing to do. You can get totally overwhelmed by the detritus of old projects and the bits and pieces ‘that might possibly be useful some day’, and this burgeoning clutter can have a detrimental effect on your mood as well on yo ..read more

My brother came back from a visit to the Skellig Islands in Kerry the other day, with lots of wonderful photos of beehive huts and puffins and such – but it reminded me of my own encounter with the Skelligs some years ago. I was staying at the Cill Rialaig Artists’ Retreat at the time and one day, I came across a pay-as-you-go telescope, pointing out in the general direction of the islands.  There was a sign beside it with a drawing of the Skelligs and the price: €1. There was rain on the wind that day but I thought to myself: If it wasn’t so misty, I’m sure I could see the Skelligs out ..read more

I heard the Dawn Chorus again this morning.  Still dark. Why do they get up so early? Why do they sound so happy, so full of joy?  And why is it I cannot sleep? I was delighted to have two paintings selected for the RHA Annual Exhibition. (the two faces on this page)  There was 5,313 submissions but only 346 pieces selected for exhibition in the end.  So last Sunday I was at the Varnishing Day and that was nice.  I met loads of old friends. Before the opening I had been to a book launch and listened to the wonderful poems of Geraldine Mitchell.  Naming Love. I w ..read more

the farmyard at Ballyvoodrane, 1973 Ballyvoodrane – that’s where this post is going today.  Yes, Ballyvoodrane is a small townland in the County Wexford, a place where we went on holidays long, long ago. It came to my mind the other day as I was tipping away in the allotment. To be precise, I was shovelling horse shit into sacks when, wonder of wonders, I came across a horseshoe. As the sun was beating down, ag scoilteadh na gcloch, you might say, I left it in the sack to be examined later and then, I forgot all about it. But then, as I was redistributing the well-rotted manure around the ..read more

Image from the Book of Kells.   source:  Wikimedia Commons Growing up in Dublin, I never had much to do with Trinity College.  There was this bizarre story in our family that my Dad wanted to study art history there but, when he wrote to archbishop John Charles McQuaid to ask for permission, he was refused.  We never heard if it was because of the college’s links to the Protestant Ascendancy or if it was because the art might’ve corrupted his poor soul.  Probably the latter! The first time that I entered its “hallowed halls” was to see the world-famous ninth centu ..read more

A friend of mine was asking: “What about Hope? What about the things that give us Hope?” and Joe said: “Huh – if there is anything” and that got me thinking.  We really need to hang on to those things that inspire us but also, we must try to resist the stuff that leads to despair. So here goes: Samhaircíní (pronounced: sour keeny). That’s them above, the primroses that tell me that winter is finally over and that summer is definitely on the way.  Actually, I suppose they’re my second sign of hope because the Snowdrops or Plúiríní Sneachta were the first to arrive.  Every year i ..read more