INISHLACKEN ROCK
I sit by your fire,
my thirst, a white bone,
an unmarked grave,
nestled in your hearth.
Stones fall from your chimney.
In your kitchen,
my thirst, a white bone,
an unmarked grave,
nestled in your hearth.
Stones fall from your chimney.
In your kitchen,
I reach into a rabbit hole,
for one shard of pottery,
one rosary bead,
the touch of your hand.
Thistles burn my wrists.
Lichen sprouts from my breast,
for one shard of pottery,
one rosary bead,
the touch of your hand.
Thistles burn my wrists.
Lichen sprouts from my breast,
buttercups from my fingertips.
The roof lifts off
and I am taken.
I find you far from cottage ruins,
steeped in a different holy well.
You are Shoifra (need to check spelling)
when she bounces on my bed
with muddy garden feet.
You are Christina’s saucer eyes
and saucier wit.
You are Bridget who
wears my mother’s smile,
rosary beads at her bedside.
The roof lifts off
and I am taken.
I find you far from cottage ruins,
steeped in a different holy well.
You are Shoifra (need to check spelling)
when she bounces on my bed
with muddy garden feet.
You are Christina’s saucer eyes
and saucier wit.
You are Bridget who
wears my mother’s smile,
rosary beads at her bedside.
It is my own sob that wakes me.
We are Inishlacken Rock,
generations of barnacles,
one atop the other,
broken apart,
We are Inishlacken Rock,
generations of barnacles,
one atop the other,
broken apart,
mended by colour
and light.
and light.
“Lost Things Found” by Irish Artist, Rosie McGurran RUA.
Painting inspired by poem “Inishlacken Rock.”
An excerpt from McGurran's Artist Statement:
Painting inspired by poem “Inishlacken Rock.”
An excerpt from McGurran's Artist Statement:
This work has been created as a response to the island of Inishlacken, once the home of Gerard Dillon,
now uninhabited. The island comes to life with artists a few times a year during the Inishlacken Project residency programme. The programme began in 2001 and has hosted over fifty artists since,
exhibiting in Ireland and internationally.
now uninhabited. The island comes to life with artists a few times a year during the Inishlacken Project residency programme. The programme began in 2001 and has hosted over fifty artists since,
exhibiting in Ireland and internationally.
During our adventures I have been fortunate to have met the Kenney family from Canada, in early 2009 they travelled from Canada and Philadelphia to Syracuse, New York to attend the opening of an Inishlacken exhibition. The family Matriarch Edna Campbell Bruhin, in her 90s travelled through the snow with her daughters to be there, it was a complete surprise for me. Edna kindly offered to read a poem her own mother had written about Inishlacken, the place of her birth. Anna O’Toole Campbell left Insihlacken over 100 years ago to live in the U.S. Her legacy as a mother and a poet has has continued through four generations of women in her family. This painting has been inspired by a poem written by Anna’s granddaughter, Barbara Bruhin Kenney during her time on the Insihlacken Project residency in June 2011.
Gerard Dillon’s legacy has inspired me to invite artists to create in the place he loved. In doing this I have been fortunate to have opened so many connections to the island and its history. The poem made me think of the people who had left, which feels even more pertinent now, the work dips in and out of the past and present, houses open up and reveal tables and chairs empty and waiting for loved ones to return. A lit fire offers hope and maintains warmth, shelter comes in the form of a tent as we are only temporary visitors. All the people mentioned in the poem are descendents of the island, Bridgid at 95, her daughter Christina and her great granddaughter Siofra who embodies freedom of spirit and strong female tenacity that runs between all these island women.
