Autumn

                                                                                 'Autumn Reflections' Oil on Canvas
                                                                  
                                                                                           Merry Autumn

It's all a farce,—these tales they tell
About the breezes sighing,
And moans astir o'er field and dell,
Because the year is dying.

Such principles are most absurd,—
I care not who first taught 'em;
There's nothing known to beast or bird
To make a solemn autumn.

In solemn times, when grief holds sway
With countenance distressing,
You'll note the more of black and gray
Will then be used in dressing.

Now purple tints are all around;
The sky is blue and mellow;
And e'en the grasses turn the ground
From modest green to yellow.

The seed burs all with laughter crack
On featherweed and jimson;
And leaves that should be dressed in black
Are all decked out in crimson.

A butterfly goes winging by;
A singing bird comes after;
And Nature, all from earth to sky,
Is bubbling o'er with laughter.

The ripples wimple on the rills,
Like sparkling little lasses;
The sunlight runs along the hills,
And laughs among the grasses.

The earth is just so full of fun
It really can't contain it;
And streams of mirth so freely run
The heavens seem to rain it.

Don't talk to me of solemn days
In autumn's time of splendor,
Because the sun shows fewer rays,
And these grow slant and slender.

Why, it's the climax of the year,
The highest time of living!—
Till naturally its bursting cheer
Just melts into thanksgiving.

Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906)

Crashing Waves at Furbo, Co Galway

Stormy Seas

Oil on Canvas Board  12" x 16"

Coole Park

'Pathway to the Lake' at Coole Park, Gort Co Galway   Oil on Canvas

These eighteen, 80 year old trees at Coole Park, Gort, have been felled because they posed a “serious risk” to public safety.

The Monterey cypress trees were felled at the former home of Lady Augusta Gregory on advice from expert arborists who found that the trees could fail at any time without warning, and posed a serious risk to public safety.

Some of the trees were infected by a type of bracket fungus called Ganoderma applanatum, but this was not the only reason for their removal, according to the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.

“The trees were in very poor condition. The crowns of the trees were very damaged and in these cases, failure of the roots or falling branches is not uncommon in this species,” said a spokesperson.

http://www.galwayindependent.com/20140911/news/historic-trees-felled-due-to-public-safety-risk-S43837.html

Dunguaire Castle, Kinvara, Co Galway

Oil on Canvas

Dunguaire Castle is a 16th century tower house located in Kinvara on the shores of Galway Bay.  The castle was built in 1520 by the O’Hynes clan and passed into the hands of the Martyn’s of Galway in the early 17th century.  Richard Martyn, Mayor of Galway lived here until 1642 and the Martyn’s of Tulira Castle, owned the castle until this century.

In 1924 Dunguaire was bought and repaired by Oliver St. John Gogarty, the famous surgeon and literary figure. This was the time of the great Celtic revival in Irish literature exemplified by the works of writers such as Synge, Yeats Shaw and O'Casey. It became the venue for meetings of the literary revivalists such as W.B. Yeats, his patron Lady Gregory, George Bernard Shaw, Edward Martin and J.M. Synge. Yeats in particular believed strongly in the Celtic Bardic tradition and set about reviving the ancient oral customs incorporating them into his plays and poetry.  

In 1954 the castle was acquired by Christobel Lady Amptill who completed the restoration started by Oliver St. John Gogarty.

Blackrock Diving Tower

The Lonesome Boatman

Tranquility  Oil on Canvas  Patricia Kavanagh

Kylemore Lake  Oil on Canvas  Patricia Kavanagh

Listen to this beautiful air written by Finbar Furey in 1968.  

http://youtu.be/ntGIkGuFBL8