Seán O'Sullivan RHA (1906-1964)
Portrait of the Writer Máirtin Ó Cadhain
Pastel, 45.75 x 35.5cm (18 x 14'')
Signed and dated 1951

Exh. Trinity College (Dublin) 1972, Sáirséal agus Dill...

Seán O'Sullivan RHA (1906-1964)
Portrait of the Writer Máirtin Ó Cadhain
Pastel, 45.75 x 35.5cm (18 x 14'')
Signed and dated 1951

Exh. Trinity College (Dublin) 1972, Sáirséal agus Dill commemorative exhibition.

Repr. Cois Caoláire (1953); An tSraith Dhá Tógáil (1970); As an nGéibheann (1973); An tSraith Tógtha (1977); An Post, Celtic Scholars (2006).

Provenance: Seán Ó hÉigeartaigh (publisher); by descent.

An iconic portrait, reproduced in most of Ó Cadhains published work from 1953 onward.

 

Born in a Gaeltacht area of west Co. Galway, interned in the 1940s for IRA activities, Máirtín Ó Cadhain (1906-1970) was the most original and powerful writer in the Irish language for many generations. His Cré na Cille (1949), recently published in English translation, deployed the speech of his home area in its full vehemence and variety. It was followed by a series of short story collections focused on powerful character studies, moving from the small farms of Connemara to the big city where he spent much of his adult life. In 1956 he became a lecturer at Trinity College, and later Professor and Fellow there.

 

In 1967 he was awarded the inaugural Irish-American Cultural Institute Award for his collection An tSraith ar Lár, published after a long period of creative silence. Around this time the Nobel Prize committee was beginning to focus on recognising major writers from minority cultures, and if Ó Cadhain had lived a few years longer it is likely that he would have been a serious contender.

 

The present portrait was commissioned by Ó Cadhains friend and publisher Seán Ó hÉigeartaigh. It offers an excellent likeness of the writer in his maturity, its forceful style reflecting his sometimes choleric temperament. It is reproduced in Cois Caoláire (1953) and in most of his subsequent works. In 2006 it was reproduced by An Post in a postage stamp series commemorating Celtic Scholars.

 

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