Timeless Timoleague

After two months of daily working away at this painting, stone by stone, praying all the while that when it was finally finished I would like it, I carefully added that solitary raven and... c'est finis!
    It depicts the ancient walls of Timoleague Abbey in West Cork and is the second painting I've done of the ruins of the Abbey which stand at the end of the Courtmacsherry Bay, not far from Kinsale.  Originally a Franciscan Friary (1240 a.d.) built on the site of St. Molaga's cell, it was destroyed by Cromwell's army in 1642. For 800 years it's been built, destroyed, rebuilt, damaged, repaired, again and again by West Cork stone masons (most of them named McCarthy!)  Upon close examination, the walls tell the story, doorways filled in, windows moved, patches of limestone next to granite next to gneiss next to whatever could be found, creating a masonary jigsaw puzzle of huge how-did-they-ever-get-that-stone-up-there slabs to rocks as small as your fist. 

But with all the repairs, modifications, and re-purposing over the years, one thing has remained constant, the ravens! 

You can see my 2002 painting of Timoleague here.
 

The Source   

This painting was commissioned by the Lucey family, owners of the Gougane Barra Hotel. They wanted a "view of Gougane Barra from heaven." The tiny Gougane Barra lake is the source of the Cork's sacred River Lee, as well as a source of spiritual fulfillment for a thousand years of pilgrims. I decided to call it, "The Source." 

Gougane Barra sits nestled in a magical—and spiritual—valley in the mountains west of Cork. The site of St. Finbarr's sixth-century monestery, the lake is the source of the sacred River Lee. Finbarr (nicknamed St. Barry, thank you very much) founded the city of Cork in the marshland where the Lee empties into the Atlantic. St. Finbarr's Oratory, a beautiful chapel sits on the stony "island" in Gougane Barra lake as do the ruins of a stone structure housing the Stations of the Cross and several monk's cells built into the stone walls.

A short walk from the Oratory brings you to the magical Gourgane Barra National Forest.  I've already done a painting of that!

Whenever we go to Ireland we always begin or end (or both) our trip with time there, basking in the spectacular scenery, and the warm welcome we find at the Gougane Barra Hotel.