AN intricate painting is proving to be much more than meets the eye in its celebration of Irish women and their place in the world.
Entitled Mná hÉireann/Women of Ireland, the painting was created by West Belfast artist Meabha Magerr. The striking piece was commissioned by go-to Andersonstown physiotherapist Dan Turley, taking pride of place in his home.
Meabha, originally from Inishmore Crescent, now based across the water, told the Andersonstown News that her interest and talent in art flourished ever since “I could hold a crayon”.
“In our household, thankfully, you were allowed to be who and what you were. I passed my 11-Plus and wanted to go to the school around the corner and that was St Genevieve’s. I had always had a love of painting and came from an artistic, creative family.”
Friends since they were teenagers, Dan commissioned Meabha, who has displayed her work at the annual Féile an Phobail artists showcase in St Mary’s University College, to create Mná hÉireann.
“My biggest problem was finding the right face, the central figure in this case of the piece, to signify life force and strength. I had painted a portrait of Clannad’s Moya Brennan before and I just kept coming back to her face, especially with her being a Celtic woman, a setter of pace. I did change it slightly, the hair, the colour of the eyes, I wanted to convey the feel of her, not necessarily a repeat portrait,” she said.
She continued: “I’ve known Dan since I was 15, we have a lot of banter. He’s a Michelangelo man and just to annoy him I painted the ‘Da Vinci rose’ in it,” she laughed. “There are forget-me-nots in the painting and fuschias, deora Dé/God’s tears, as I’d imagine he’d cry to see the persecution women have and continue to face at the injustices in the world.
“Dan was very clear that he wanted only positives in the piece, no negatives.”
Contained in Mná hÉireann are leaves of various sizes with names on them of women from throughout history in delicate gold lettering, and not immediately obvious.
“I spent time researching and wanted to go beyond the obvious,” explained Meabha. “Countess Markievicz is there, my great aunt Nano Mullan is on it who fought alongside Countess Markievicz, Sonia O’Sullivan is there. The names are quite hard to read and that was deliberate, as throughout history women haven’t always been seen. They’ve had to come through back doors, pretend to be less than they were.”
The prolific artist said the painting and the names contained in it have proved quite the talking point.
“James Barry is on it. A woman who wanted to join the Irish army as a military surgeon and disguised herself as a man to do.”
James Barry became a pioneering surgeon who carried out the first successful Caesarean delivery.
Meabha spoke of how “not all the contributions, the names are immediately obvious”.
“Sinéad Burke is there, Sinéad who is three-and-a-half foot tall, a Dublin-based teacher, PhD student and activist. When I first read about her, I nearly skimmed past the article, which was about the fashion industry. I love style but have no interest in fashion. I soon realised the article wasn’t about fashion in that sense, it was about inclusion – a much bigger topic and much more far reaching in many areas of life.
“There are olives painted in the portrait, in different stages of development which are symbolizing peace. Some are ripe, some aren’t, the meaning behind this is that this is an ongoing stage, peace is a circle of work that will never end, we are always going to have to work hard for it.
“I’m glad that the painting is proving to be such a talking point in Dan’s house. It’s as much about learning in that you pick a name and find out more, there is meaning behind each chosen colour, flower and there are emeralds, in this particular case placed in the Celtic crown to represent the four green fields.
“The ring formation of the wreath signifies everlasting protection. I didn’t want to follow the trend of portraying a warrior queen, that has been well covered by many fabulous artists. I wanted to make this piece more personal.”