2 August – 31 August 2025

Tadhg McSweeney: Saoirse

McSweeney was an exceptionally individual artist who found extraordinary beauty in the absolutely ordinary, in the landscapes, animals and everyday objects of his home surroundings. The exhibition was introduced by Tadhg’s friend and film-maker, Vivienne Dick: a recording of her remarks can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/0-Z8mj2TiLk

The poet Brian Lynch wrote, ‘the simplicity, the stubbornness, the freshness, and the joy he finds in nature are facets of an ongoing self-portrait, expressions of the soul of an original artistic personality. He is in the tradition of Irish genius, but there is no genius like him. Tadhg McSweeney is unique’.

McSweeney studied in the National College of Art and Design, Dublin, between 1959 and 1960, and later studied printmaking techniques, such as etching and silkscreen printing, in London. He exhibited at the Royal Hibernian Academy, the Oireachtas, Group 65 and the Independent Artists annual exhibitions, and had fourteen solo shows in Cork, Dublin, San Francisco, Hamburg, Killarney and London. He died in August 2018, aged 82.