Limerick Sceitse

Photos from outside and inside King Johns Castle

St Marys Cathedral, a Medieval cathedral near the castle, with a lovely original ornate door!

Some of the many cool ancient things within the Hunt Museum

With some of my fellow sketchers from sketch adventure group a few weeks ago we spent the day around Limerick city sketching at King Johns castle, St Marys Cathedral and Hunt Museum, a nice day out, Limerick has much to offer, more than we could sketch in a day

Rathcroghan Illustration

Rathcroghan- A Irish Iron Age Royal Site

A few months ago I had the honour of being commissioned to do the first interpretation illustration of Rathcroghan/Ráth Cruachan in Roscommon by Roscommon county council based on recent archaeological evidence from the site itself. I was generously aided in the interpretation by Joe Fenwick, who has done alot of research on the site and written about it extensively. After much bouncing around ideas and discussions and great advice from Joe, here is the interpretation of this highly important Iron Age royal/ritual site.

Id surprised if you dont know, but in case you dont, Rathcroghan is one of 6 royal sites in Ireland, which include the likes of Hill of Tara, Navan fort and Knockaulin. These sites are heavily featured in Irish mythology, with Rathcroghan being said to be the royal seat of Queen Maeve in the famous Táin Bo Cuailgne, the Cú Chulainn epic. It was also thought to be the traditional capital of the province of Connaugh/Connachta. There is many many things written about it online, which are freely available if you want to look into the site further (you should!)

The large mound at Rathcroghan is thought to have been a large structure, with many phases, and one of those phases is the one illustrated. Rathcroghan has some similarities to other royal sites and for them as well as Rathcroghan, there is some argument whether or not they were ever roofed. Some are strongly opposed, seeing the roof to have been impractical, others still stick to roofed interpretation, as there is still no definite evidence they werent roofed.

Leading to the mound there has been found to be avenues, perhaps for processional activities and beside it another large structure, which also had another avenue leading to it. Around all this was a gigantic circular embankment (if I remember correctly it was 360m in diameter), seen in the background, which may have been topped by a palisade. There was also many other features within that large enclosure and nearby, not all shown here, but you can see the ring barrows hinted at the left.  This is only a glimpse though of what the site has to offer in what is one of the most archaeological rich parts of the country.

Just to say though it is was truly an honour to try and bring this place to life, one of the most important sites in Irish archaeology and culture, I only hope my illustration does it some small justice!

Mesolithic Huts Concepts

I have been messing around with various ideas for Mesolithic huts recently. I wasnt so much looking at a specific site plan and sticking to it but more looking at other hunter gatherer societies around the world and playing around the various shapes and materials that could have been used in the Mesolithic.

One of the things that is striking though, when looking at world cultures like that, is that each cultures dwellings have such a strong visual design that is so distinctive to them. Some of that is of course what is available locally or an adaptation to their environment. But I think there is more to it, I think the look is also part of their distinctive culture. Which was the result of slow but deliberate decisions by generations of those people to a design they liked themselves, that showcased to the world their difference and distinctiveness. And id imagine it probably was the same for Mesolithic peoples in Europe too, well thats my theory anyways!

Daily Warmup Sketches

Every day I do warmup sketches just to get me started in the morning, to shake off the cobwebs so to speak, here are two 10 min sketches I did recently

Standing Stone Guest Blog Post

I was asked by the very kind people over at The Standing Stone to do a guest blog post on their incredible blog(which I have used many a time when preparing to visit places). I wrote a little about researching and referencing in archaeological illustration, more here:

http://www.thestandingstone.ie/2016/01/guest-post-researching-tower-house-by.html

Scots Pine Primeval Forest Concept

Last of the forest imagery for a while, this time what a primeval Scots Pine forest could have looked like

Drowned Mesolithic Forests

Following on from my previous images recently, where I have been exploring how to capture Mesolithic environments. This continues that exploration with these drowned/flooded primeval forests where Im trying to capture the feel of that period at the same time.

More Mesolithic Forest Environment Concepts

Mesolithic Forest- The Sacred Oak

Been trying to capture what a Mesolithic forest would have been like, what it would have contained and the atmosphere of this world of endless trees, some giant and ancient. Often when I wander around forests I try to imagine what it would have been like back then and I always think that people back then would have lived partly in imagination (as probably in most of the past), without science telling people 'no thats not true', anything you could imagine could be possible. Probably the lines between truth and imagination were very blurred. And a world inhabited by giant trees and thick wild forests, would have been alive with things to drive the imagination.

Ancient Mesolithic Forest Concepts

Been playing around with doing Mesolithic prehistoric forest environments. My favourite period, when Ireland was still covered in wild untouched ancient forests

Carrigadrohid Sketch

A sketch of Carrigadrohid castle I did at the last Sceitse where we wandered around the Lee sketching as we went, I love Carrigadrohid, definitely one of the most scenically placed Tower houses in Ireland

Sketching on the river Lee with Sceitse

The impressive Kilcrea Abbey

Kilcrea tower house- I used this site as my exemplar when doing the tower house illustration

A post medieval manor house ruin nearby

The Scenically placed Carrigadrohid castle- sitting on a natural island between 2 bridges

Mullinhassig Woods

Mullinhassig waterfall- heavy rain makes for impressive waterfalls

On Sunday I went for a sketch wander around the river Lee near Cork city, we started the day at Kilcrea Abbey & Castle, popped over to Carrigadrohid castle perched on an island between 2 bridges and finished up with leisurely sketch stroll in Mullinhassig woods, a next relaxed day of chilling out, sketching and having a laugh

Medieval Anglo Norman Castle Illustration

Castles are one of the most impressive monuments of the middle ages, it is in the construction of castles, along with abbeys & cathedrals, where we see the middle ages really shine. Normally people think of castles as impressive militaristic structures, but in recent times many castles have been found to have lots of defensive flaws and may have been built more to impress and show power, essentially to tell everyone in the area who was master here,  they also served administration purposes as well as domestic for the lord and his retinue. That is not to say castles did not suffer direct assault, they did and alot of medieval warfare was the taking of one castle from the other side to win, all Im mentioning here is castles purposes were far more elaborate that purely militaristic fortresses.

The first castles were actually started in the 10th century in France, but they didnt really become normal until the 11th century, and alot of the proliferation of castles came down to the weakening of central rule in France and the rise of decentralised power (not too dissimilar to the story of the proliferation of the tower house in later medieval Ireland). The illustration shows a castle in what is termed the high middle ages, its based on Irish castles from around the late 12th century, with the first wave of Anglo-Norman invaders, as well as castles from the height of Anglo-Norman power in Ireland, the 13th century.  There is some debate as to whether the Gaelic Irish had built castles before the arrival of the Normans, there are some likely candidates but without excavation we won't know for sure. Whether or not the Irish built castles themselves, the Anglo Normans were certainly the first ones to build castles on a large scale, most were medium sized in comparison to the rest of Europe but the likes of Trim are impressive, even in a European scale.

The castle in the illustration is from a wide selection of early Anglo-Norman castles. The central keep (the large white building), or donjon if you prefer, is based on a combination of Greencastle, Maynooth, Trim and a small bit of Carrickfergus.  Notice the second white building outside the main keep, that is the hall, where entertainments, meetings and feasts were held, essentially the public venue. The Hall here is based on one in Adare castle as is in the inner gate tower beside it. The outer gatehouse is based on Limerick castles gatehouse which is defended by a drawbridge, while the inner gatehouse is defended by a portcullis. The larger circuit wall is based on Trim castles' wall on the outer bailey while in the inner bailey is based on Carrickfergus. The overall plan is a mix of Carrickfergus and Trim, though its not exactly like either really.

In the inner bailey the castle has gardens, both for recreation and growing food. Notice as well how white the keep is, like the later tower house image I did, the earlier castles generally had Harling on their outside, making them gleam white in the landscape. I wasnt sure whether this was just for the keep or the whole castle, so I went for the most important buildings only here, the Keep and Hall. Outside of the castle there is a deer park, which alot of castles had, Deer parks contained deer which were the for the lord and his retinue to hunt. Also deer parks often had forestry which the lord used for wood and even sometimes fish ponds, like the one in the top edge of the image. These were sometimes protected by a palisade and embankment to keep poachers out. Poaching was not unusual though but the fines gathered from caught poachers was a source of income for the lord, so unlike in movies, poachers were rarely killed. Another feature normally seen outside of castles (as well as walled towns) were Inns just outside the gates, as seen here, as after a certain time of night the gates would be closed till morning, so those who arrived late, could stay in the inn till the gates opened again.

References

1. Castles and Fortified Cities of Medieval Europe An Illustrated History- Jean-Denis G.G. Lepage
2. Castles in Ireland- Tom McNeill
3. Medieval Ireland: An Archaeology- Tadhg O'Keeffe
4. The Archaeology of Medieval Ireland- T. B. Barry
5. Castles- DK Eyewitness- Christopher Gravett
6. Dating Irish Castles- David Sweetman- Archaeology Ireland, Vol. 6, No. 4 (Winter, 1992), pp. 8-9
7. The Rock of Dunamase- Dunamase Castle-  Archaeology Ireland, Vol. 9, No. 2 (Summer, 1995)
8. Trim's first cousin: the twelfth-century donjon of Maynooth Castle- Tadhg O'Keeffe- Archaeology Ireland, Vol. 27, No. 2 (Summer 2013)
9. FROM RINGWORK TO STONE FORTIFICATION: POWER AND THE EVOLUTION OF ANGLO-NORMAN CASTLES IN NORTH-EASTERN IRELAND- Amber DVA Johnson 2011-TRENT UNIVERSITY, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
10. Castles and Deer Parks in Anglo-Norman Ireland- Margaret Murphy and Kieran O'Conor- Eolas: The Journal of the American Society of Irish Medieval Studies, Vol. 1 (2006)
11. Archæological Excavations at Trim Castle, Co. Meath, 1971-74- P. David Sweetman, G. F. Mitchell, R. J. Mansfield and M. Dolley- Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. Section C: Archaeology, Celtic Studies, History, Linguistics, Literature, Vol. 78 (1978)
12. Excavations at the Entrance to Carrickfergus Castle, 1950- D. M. Waterman- Ulster Journal of Archaeology, Third Series, Vol. 15 (1952)
13. The Anglo-Norman Keep at Trim: Its Architectural Implications- Roger Stalley- Archaeology Ireland, Vol. 6, No. 4 (Winter, 1992)
14. The Archaeology of Norman Castles in Ireland Part 2: Stone Castles- Tadhg O'Keeffe- Archaeology Ireland, Vol. 4, No. 4 (Winter, 1990)
15. The Origins of Tower Houses- T. E. McNeill- Archaeology Ireland, Vol. 6, No. 1 (Spring, 1992), pp. 13-14
16. Cross-Cultural Occurrences of Mutations in Tower House Architecture- Evidence for Cultural Homogeneity in Late Medieval Ireland?- Rory Sherlock- The Journal of Irish Archaeology, Vol. 15 (2006), pp. 73-91
17. Dating Irish Castles- David Sweetman- Archaeology Ireland, Vol. 6, No. 4 (Winter, 1992), pp. 8-9
18. The Origins of Tower Houses- T. E. McNeill- Archaeology Ireland, Vol. 6, No. 1 (Spring, 1992), pp. 13-14
19. Tower-Houses and Associated Farming Systems- Muiris O'Sullivan and Liam Downey- Archaeology Ireland, Vol. 23, No. 2 (Summer, 2009), pp. 34-37

Sunrise & Dusk on the river

Its been a while since I posted photos of the river outside my apartment, sometimes living on a river can be truly beautiful, especially sunrises and dusk

Portrait Commission

This is a recent commission where I was hired to do a graphite drawing of a persons father (that recently passed away) for his mother for Christmas. Was a great commission to work on, as a memento to someone and their memory.

Waterford Museum of Treasures Images

A close up of the two illustrations done for Waterford Museum of Treasure a few months back. Originally they were designed to be displayed at the bottom of heritage signage beside each other. It was later decided that in the final boards that the archer was displayed differently when the signs went up beside Reginalds tower in Waterford but here they are together.

The one of the left is the prow of a Viking ship, based on the Viking longship reconstruction at Reginalds tower. And the archer to the right is a later medieval archer, his bow is based on display in the Waterford Medieval museum and is the only excavated unbroken medieval bow found in Ireland and Britain. Below is how they were eventually displayed along with 2 other illustrations I did for the boards

Ballymacdermot GIF

A little GIF animation of the painting of the Ballymacdermot Court Tomb illustration. This is obviously after the sketch phase so the large strokes ie perspective, composition etc, were already worked out in that stage. After the sketch phases I generally start to work on a greyscale painting and then paint over that with colour after, this allows me to work the values and important elements first before getting into the nitty gritty of colour.

Inistioge & Woodstock Gardens

Woodstock Gardens

The Dovecote in Woodstock gardens

13th century Doorway in Inistioge Abbey

The remains of Inistioge Abbey

The town tower house castle in Inistioge Town

Its a nice little too, well worth a visit!

Spent a cold winters day out in the lovely 18th/19th century Woodstock gardens before having a short wonder around the pretty village of Inistioge nearby with its medieval bits and pieces, lovely town, well worth a visit. 

Lismore & Around with Sceitse

Lismore town centre

McGraths tomb in Lismore cathedral, a 16th century tomb

The oldest part of the Lismore castle, its 16th century gates

Lismore castle from its gardens

One of the Ballysaggartmore gates within the woods

The second of the gates, hidden within these woods a few miles from Lismore

Heading out in lashing rain myself and the sketch group, Sceitse,  teamed up at Lismore to have a wander around the town, its castle and surrounds, and were rewarded for our efforts by the skies clearing, and as always ,an enjoyable day of fun, laughs and sketching

Ballysaggartmore Towers

A sketch of the Ballysaggartmore towers just outside Lismore, its hidden within a lovely forest and is a sort of folly. It along with its sister front gate, were part of a planned huge castle, though the landlord bankrupted himself trying to build it. But not before he evicted a multitude of starving tenants during the famine to make room for more profitable sheep, what a lovely guy

Abbeystrowry Medieval Church, Liss Ard Estate and its Sky Garden

Abbeystrowry Medeval Church

Entrance to the Sky Gardens at Liss Ard Estate

Sky Garden at Liss Ard estate

Nature showing off at Liss Ard Estate

Just back from a weekend away with the other half to around Skibbereen. Visiting the medieval church in Abbeystrowry graveyard in Skibbereen, Liss Ard estate and its gardens. And the amazing Sky garden, which was built in order to surround your vision as you stare up at the sky,  I love it when modern architecture is so influenced by prehistoric monuments, check out a better view of it here:

http://www.irelands-hidden-gems.com/images/skygardenlissards.jpg

North Cork awandering

Kildorrery Medieval Parish Church

A medieval stoup inside its 15th century limestone entrance

Aghacross medieval church nearby

Inside Athacross church

Mill at Mourneabby

Cloynes medieval parish church and round tower

Some places I visited in north and east Cork recently, mostly visiting medieval sites.