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

I’ve just seen my first swallow – flying high over Glasnevin Cemetery.  I was so glad to see it.  Heralding the start of the Irish summer.  Goodness knows we need some good news these days – so here we go again – a Haiku for the swallows. Féach na Fáinleoga is an Samhradh ag filleadh Buíochas le Dia Did you know that swallows travel about 9500 kilometres twice a year, all the way to South Africa and back.  They nest here in Ireland for the summer and then, they head south in September, flying across Europe and over the Sahara desert till they reach their holiday homes in ..read more

No, this isn’t one of my paintings.  I got it off the internet and I’m afraid that I don’t know who painted it.  Who is it?  It is George Friedrich Handel – the composer of Handel’s “Messiah”. The first performance of “Messiah” was staged in Neale’s Musick Hall in Fishamble Street, Dublin on the 13th of April, 1742, just around the corner from Christchurch Cathedral and the modern day Civic Offices. Here’s how it came about:  Handel had emigrated from Saxony as a young man and made a name for himself in London with his Italian operas.  But, as you know, fashions are f ..read more

“Righter of Wrongs no.2” watercolour, 2019 It seems like it’s been raining for forty days and forty nights (and I pity the poor vegetable growers) but the inclement weather has also affected our group exhibition: “What do we want?” at the Olivier Cornet Gallery.  Our guest speaker Frances Black couldn’t make it because she was left marooned on Rathlin Island, off the coast of Antrim. But what do you think she did?  She got her sister, the reknowned folk singer Mary Black, to open the show instead!  Of course we were concerned for Frances but we were very grateful to Mary for ste ..read more