The story behind the Ireland collection is told in Rosemary’s words, based on a trip to Northern Ireland.
Mickey McEldowney’s Sheep (Draperstown) – When I knew my lifelong dream of visiting Ireland was about to come true, I searched the internet for any information about my Northern Irish roots that I could find. The seemingly impossible happened! A man who had known my family and had worked for my great-uncle, responded to my email setting in motion a wonderful adventure. Mickey McEldowney was the generous person who spent a marvelous day helping me explore the places my family had lived. His own beautiful farm has been the inspiration, as well, for my own new found fascination with sheep.
Sperrin Mountains, County Derry – Before I actually met Mickey McEldowney, he called me from Ireland and told me about my Tonagh Hill, Draperstown family. He also talked about Draperstown and said it was an artist’s delight, surrounded by the Sperrin Mountains. The Sperrins are a beautiful presence in Derry and Tyrone counties, and are the largest and least explored of all the mountains in Ireland. On higher ground you can look across a road to expansive peat bogs and then turn to find your eyes filled with colorful fields of heather.
Morning in Omagh – I awoke my first morning in Omagh to hear Isabella coming to feed the geese, ducks and chickens. We were finally in Northern Ireland and had spent our first night on a farm near the Sperrin Mountains. What a thrill to be surrounded by such beauty and peace. I set off down the path to find the lambs in the field and the cow nursing her calf.
The Grass is Sweeter – Isabella told me to walk down the path to find the lambs, cow and calf. She said the lambs were out in the field but would come to me when they saw me, and they did! Later I went back to the lambs to find that one had slipped under the fence and was out in the path. When I found Eugene, the farmer, to tell him, he said he thought it was the same lamb who always did that. “You know what they say,” said Eugene, “The grass is always sweeter on the other side.”
Rainbow Sheep – On our first morning in Northern Ireland, we were driving up to Draperstown, which had been the home of my great-grandparents, to meet Mickey McEldowney, who had known my family. We kept seeing sheep with spots of color on them, circles of red, pink or blue. Then we saw a small field of sheep that were completely orange! You know that Northern Ireland, Ulster, has a Protestant majority, and orange is symbolic of that, so when Colleen asked Mickey, a sheep farmer, about the orange sheep, with true Irish wit, his answer was “Yes, they’re the Protestant sheep”. I knew there would be a painting of that somehow, but it grew to be more inclusive, so the sheep are also Catholic, Buddhist, and various other religions, as well. On that same morning we were greeted by a rainbow, so that also became part of the painting, with the sheep now receiving their colors as they leap over the rainbow.
Niamh’s (Neve’s) Faerie Tree – Trees are sacred to the Irish, and all over Ireland, you’ll see a tree that stands alone, perhaps on a hill, and sometimes near a prehistoric monolith. These are called “faerie trees” and are considered special and protected by the people. It’s believed that thousands of years ago the faerie culture was invaded and sent under the earth, the trees then becoming portals to the faerie realms and guardians of faerie treasures. Sometimes these trees will be festooned with strips of fabrics, pieces of clothing from people who are ill, and as intercession made by family and friends to the faeries in hopes of healing for their loved ones.
I had started to paint a tree from my imagination (I thought), but looking at my photos, I realized I had taken a photo of a tree near the property of a friend that looked exactly like the “faerie tree” I was painting. The family has a lovely three-year-old daughter, Niamh (Neve), so I named my painted tree after her, and added the ribbons. There were sheep already nearby.
The most sacred of the trees in Ireland is the hawthorn, but the oak is also highly revered, and since the Gaelic word for oak is also the source of the name for Derry, my family’s roots, I painted an oak.
The Doolin Sweater Shop – Doolin is a lovely little town on the west coast of Ireland and the place one gets the ferry for the Aran Islands and the Cliffs of Moher. On charming Fisher Street, there is a thatched roof cottage that is painted hot pink! It’s the home of the sweater shop, and of course, I couldn’t resist the desire to paint it. I did take some freedoms with it, adding the sheep, the birds and the ferry, and leaving out the shops on each side of it, while being absolutely true to the hot pink color of the shop.
T’urty T’ousand Burds – We had spent a wonderful day in Inisheer in the Aran Islands, where we found Brid Connelly, a cousin of my ninety-year-old Las Cruces friend, Kate Pelly. Brid and her friend, trap driver Tony Costello and his horse Maggie May, had given us two great tours of the island and we were on the ferry back to Doolin, circling the Cliffs of Moher. It was a windy, cold and rainy day, and exciting to be on the water.
We were sailing past the large sea-stack called Branaunmore and I asked the handsome young ferryman about the puffins and other seabirds that nest there. He told me that in April there would be “t’urty t’ousand burds on that t’ing”. I knew right then, there would be a painting!
The Coat the Irish Travelers Gave Her – A gift from an Irish Traveler of a coat with rhinestone buttons and fur trim inspired this small painting.
St. Kevin’s Cemetery – A tour of Inisheer in the Aran Islands included a visit to a local cemetery in which the ancestors of a good friend were buried.
Dublin Oyster Catchers – The trip to Ireland instilled in her a fascination for painting the birds of Ireland, which later included learning their Irish names.