Turais Taibhsí | Rónán Ó Raghallaigh at Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich

Event Details

Tá áiteanna sácráilte istigh sa talamh. Tá taibhsí sna háiteanna sin. Táimid i ndiaidh cur isteach orthu.
Tháinig gach pictiúr sa taispeántas seo chun cinn de thoradh oilithreachta pearsanta chuig áit shácráilte i dtírdhreach na hÉireann. Rinne mé taighde ar an bhéaloideas atá fite fuaite sna háiteanna sin, ina logainmneacha agus ina seandálaíocht. Tá baint phearsanta agam le go leor de na háiteanna ar tugadh cuairt orthu. Rinne mé machnamh chun na háiteanna a ‘shú isteach’, mar a dhéanadh na filí. Spreag mo chuid taighde agus físeanna machnaimh pictiúir nua.
Is ionaid chomhlínte iad ionaid shácráilte. Cumhdaíodh a n-oidhreacht faoi thionchar na Críostaíochta. Rinneadh a n-ainmneacha a ghalldú. Goideadh a dtaiscí seandálaíochta. Rinneadh damáiste dóibh go nádúrtha, ach loiteadh go leor eile, amhail Cnoc na Teamhrach, d’aon ghnó. Rinneadh roinnt acu a mhilleadh ag tionscadail a cheadaigh an Stát lena n-áirítear obair chairéalaithe ar Chnoc Alúine ag Roundstone Ltd. Tá an chuid is mó de na láithreáin ar thailte príobháideacha. Go minic tá foraoisí sprús Sitceach ar gach taobh dóibh. Spreagann siad cuimhní ar mo mhuintir dhúchais nach réitíonn leis an chineál saoil atá agam sa lá atá inniu ann, mar shampla mo sheanathair ag baint na móna ar Shliabh gCod – ní raibh ‘sleán’ i mo dhorn agam riamh.
Léiríonn mo chuid saothair na coimhlintí sin – tá cuid acu nár críochnaíodh mar is ceart nó atá folaithe ar bhealach d’aon ghnó. Leagtar móitífeanna físiúla ó thréimhsí éagsúla d’ealaín dhúchasach na hÉireann ar bharr a chéile – agus an teibíocht fite fuaite iontu.
Is ealaíontóir as contae Chill Dara é Rónán Ó Raghailligh a oibríonn le péint, scríbhneoireacht agus léirithe. Téann a chuid oibre i ngleic le Éirinn roimh theacht na Críostaíochta chun aghaidh a thabhairt ar ghníomhaíocht chomhaimseartha iarchoilíneach. Feidhmíonn an béaloideas, an stair agus an tseandálaíocht mar thús pointe don taighde. Tá sé ag foghlaim na Gaeilge arís agus é ina dhuine fásta agus téann an t-eispéireas sin i bhfeidhm go mór ar a chuid saothair.
Bhain Rónán céim amach ón Choláiste Ealaíne agus Deartha le céim mháistreachta sa Mhínealaíon in 2021 agus cuireadh saothar dá chuid ar taispeáint in Éirinn agus thar sáile. Is é ‘Turais Taibhsí’ an dara taispeántas aonair aige i mBéal Feirste, i ndiaidh dó ‘Vae Victis’ a thaispeáint in Platform Arts in 2022.

There are sacred places in the land. They hold ghosts. We have disturbed them.
Each painting in this exhibition is the result of a personal pilgrimage to a sacred place in the Irish landscape. I researched the folklore imbued in these places, their logainmneacha (Irish place names) and archaeology. I have a personal connection to many of the places visited. I performed meditations to ‘channel’ the places, like the filí used to do. My research and meditation visions formed a spring for new paintings.
Sacred places are sites of conflict. Their folklore has been overlaid by Christianity. Their Irish names have been translated. Archaeological finds have been removed. They are damaged naturally, but some have been purposefully vandalised like at the Hill of Tara. Some are destroyed by state-approved industry such as quarrying of the Hill of Allen by Roadstone Ltd. Most sites are on private land. They are often surrounded by Sitka spruce forests. They prompt ancestral memories at odds with my contemporary life such as my grandfather’s turf cutting on Church Mountain- I have never held a ‘sleán.’
My painting method mirrors these conflicts- some parts are deliberately unfinished and obscured. Visual motifs from various periods of vernacular Irish art are overlaid on top of each other, blended with abstraction.

Rónán Ó Raghallaigh is an artist from Kildare working with painting, writing and performance. His practice engages with pre-Christian Ireland as a means for contemporary postcolonial action. Folklore, history and archaeology rooted in the Irish landscape form a foundation for research. He is re-learning Irish as an adult which greatly informs his work.
Rónán graduated from NCAD in 2021 with an MFA Art in the Contemporary World and has exhibited his work in Ireland and abroad. ‘Turais Taibhsí’ marks his second solo exhibition in Belfast, having exhibited ‘Vae Victis’ in Platform Arts in 2022.