Two artists focus on Irish folklore in Claremorris show

Works by two Irish artists at the opposite spectrums of their artistic careers are featuring in a dual exhibition at Claremorris Gallery from September 23 to October 7. Brian Bourke, one of the most prominent artists of his generation of Irish painters, will show seven paintings in ‘Sweeney, Cursed with the Flying Madness’, while emerging artist Peadar Jolliffe-Byrne will show eight paintings in ‘Upland Folk’.
The work in Bourke’s show, created in 1988, has never previously been exhibited. It came to prominence last year when six works from this important series were acquired by the National Gallery of Ireland. The works are inspired by a tale related in Flann O’Brien’s absurdist novel, ‘At Swim-Two-Birds’ about ‘Buile Suibhne’ or Mad Sweeney, a figure from early Irish literature created by many hands from the 9th century to the 16th century.
For the paintings in ‘Upland Folk’, Mexico City- and Leitrim-based artist Peadar Jolliffe-Byrne drew inspiration from research he undertook in 2021 as part of his work on the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List application for the cultural landscape of the Burren. The resulting collection explores the thousands of years of interaction between humans and the environment in the Burren Uplands, and how that relationship has shaped the cultural and ecological landscape we see today.