Isle of Doagh, Donegal

Linen Sheet

Donegal Gray

I still have such vivid and wonderful memories of our epic trip to Ireland last year.   I have sold some of the paintings I created when I returned.  These were paintings that I probably should have kept, but I would tell myself, I can paint another!

For the two paintings in this post, I revisited - via photograph - a highlight of the trip.   Our amazing adventure took us to the northernmost region of Ireland to Cuill, Isle of Dough, County Donegal. This was the location of the ancestral home of my paternal great grandparents and their children.  Sadly, the parents died within a few weeks of each other in 1899, resulting in the subsequent emigration of their children (ages 11 through 23) to America, specifically Boston, Massachusetts.

Knowing the familial connection to this land made it special, and no painting or photograph could come close to capturing the breathtaking beauty of this region.    The moist, imposing clouds sat low over us as we hiked an old farm path (Fegart Road) to the top of a hill on the Isle of Doagh.

Isle of Dough - Donegal

Whenever the sun (or at least rays of sunshine) broke through, the light was truly amazing!    It was at those moments that the distant countryside emitted the iconic emerald green that Ireland is known for.   Being on an island with water all around, the gray clouds became lavender, pink, blue and pale yellow.

My goal in these two 8x10 inch paintings was to capture those fleeting, sunlit moments.  One painting includes an old stone farm (more decrepit in person than they may appear in the painting).   The other painting depicts a simple meadow with the Irish Sea and neck of land in the distance

I hope you can see the magic that I felt while I was there; if not, you must go and see/feel it in person!