Kilkenny’s answer to the Bayeux Tapestry
It has been more than 20 years in the making, stitched entirely by 150 volunteers all over the country, and now the 15th and final panel is almost complete. the Ros Tapestry, an epic tale of Norman history told in thread on Jacobean linen twill using a multitude of different stitches, is now on display at the 13th-century Kilkenny Castle, while the final panel is finished locally.
The brainchild of the Rev Paul Mooney, Archdeacon of Ferns, and inspired by the Bayeux Tapestry in France, the work commemorates the rich history of Ireland's ancient east. The first panel was completed in 2002, and such is the detail that it takes approximately one hour to stitch one square inch, with most panels taking seven years to complete. The tapestry will grace the castle walls until September 2022, and admission to see it is free but requires booking, as do all the Office of Public Works heritage sites, which have waived admission charges until December 31st, 2021.
rostapestry.ie, kilkennycastle.ie
Heritage Week
Heritage Week, which finishes this weekend, still has some wonderful events today and tomorrow (August 21st and 22nd). If you happen to be in the west or near Rosmuc, quilting workshops will run at Ionad Culturtha an Phiarsaigh in the heart of Connemara and guided tours of St Senan’s, the sixth-century monastic settlement on Scattery Island in Kilrush, Co Clare, will also take place this weekend.
On a first come, first served basis with a capacity of 200 persons, Castletown House, the Palladian manor in Celbridge, Co Kildare, will host the Hot Swing Quartet tomorrow (Sunday, August 22nd) at noon, while guided poetry tours are in operation all weekend at Farmleigh Estate in Dublin and garden tours of Doneraile Court, one of the country's most impressive estates on the banks of the Awbeg river in Co Cork, also taking place this weekend. Again, admission is free with booking required.
heritageweek.ie
Portrait prize
From hundreds of entries, the shortlists of this year's Zurich Portrait Prizes were recently announced by the National Gallery of Ireland. Forty-four artists, working in a variety of media and aged between five and 85, will compete for the prize and its junior counterpart – which is now in its third year. Photography from Conor O'Leary, Sarah Doyle, Brian Teeling and Poot Mendes will compete with prints from Lizzie Downes and Dragana Jurisic, along with superb photorealist paintings by Paul Mac Cormaic and Carey Clarke, one of Ireland's most respected academic artists.
Clarke's portrait of David Sommerville shows, that at the age of 85, he is still "a master of his craft and art", as he was once described by critic Bruce Arnold. Influence from a year of lockdowns can be found in Mollie Douthit's Life in Lockdown Part IV – where the artist is "Laying on my kitchen floor with lavender eye mask to stave off a migraine" – Emily O'Flynn's video Portrait of a Girl Through a Pandemic, and, curiously, All I Could Do Was Sit and Collect Dust, which is a sculpture made from dust, detritus and the hair of artist Jonathan Mayhew.
As has been the case for the past three years, the shortlist for the young portrait prize features some remarkable works by Ireland’s budding young artists, including three five-year-olds.
Ailana Ahern's Mixed Up Me shows the influence of cubism on the nine-year -old, with some fabulous portraiture by Joannna Lipska (14) Ayesha Siddique (14) Lijun Ma (15) and Della Cowper-Gray (14), while Deliberation, by 17-year-old Loren McKenna, would challenge any of the entries in the senior category.
All entries in both shortlists will be exhibited from November 13th until April 3rd at the portrait gallery at the National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin, after which they will be shown at the Crawford Gallery in Cork until July 2022.
Yeats course
This autumn the National Gallery of Ireland will run an online art appreciation course about the Yeats family. Commencing on October 7th, the eight-week course will run each Thursday evening, and is part of the education programme for the gallery's autumn exhibition, Jack B Yeats: Painting and Memory.
Art historian Jessica Fahy will explore the artistic production of three generations of the Yeats family, including patriarch John Butler Yeats, the portraitist who could capture a likeness in minutes, daughters Lily and Lolly, who helped found an Irish arts and crafts guild and sons Jack, and William – who though better known as a poet, had ambitions to be an artist.
The course will also examine the fascinating story of granddaughter Anne Yeats, a versatile artist who played an important role in the Irish art world. Tickets are available online from September 1st costing €150.
nationalgallery.ie
Ennistymon book festival
For bibliophiles, next weekend (August 28th and 29th) the Clare town of Ennistymon will celebrate its 10th annual book festival, where antiquarian and specialist booksellers will offer their wares alongside a programme of literary events. Details are on the Ennistymon Book Town Festival Facebook page.
