Opening Night

A huge thank you to everyone who joined us for our Opening Night. There was a palpable buzz around the galleries as visitors experienced this significant and thought-provoking exhibition for the first time. Curator Niamh O’ Sullivan spoke passionately on the night about finally seeing this exhibition realized in Skibbereen. West Cork Art Centre’s chairperson Cyril Thornton and Mayor of County Cork, Patrick Gerard Murphy shared similar sentiments, remarking that it was a momentous occasion for the town considering its synonymity with the Famine and its reputation as a cultural hub of West Cork.

 Dee Forbes, Director general of RTE, officially opened the event. Her remarks in regards to the significance of  Famine illustration journalism, referenced in the exhibition, adds another lens to experience Coming Home through. As Forbes noted, we only know of events through media coverage and how the media presents information to us. It is an interesting idea and one that is particularly significant in the world today.

A common reaction to the exhibition is the realization of the Irish Famine’s similarities to other humanitarian crises that have occurred throughout history and continue to happen today. The contemporary artwork of West Cork artist William Crozier, Dorothy Cross, Rowan Gillespie and Hughie O’ Donoghue, amongst others, located in Gallery II, are significant contributing factors to this realization. Gillespie’s  bronze sculpture, Statistic 1/Statistic 11, seems to have caught the imagination of visitors, which are between four and five hundred a day. Whilst invigilating the exhibition and talking among visitors, I have witnessed many search amongst the Famine victims names inscribed on the sculpture for a shared surname.

Basking Shark Currach by Dorothy Cross is another artwork that immediately demands the viewers attention and retains it through the sculpture’s many layers of narrative. Another reaction that seems to be almost universal amongst the visitors on opening night is the disbelief that the Famine happened not so long ago! The effects of the Famine are still being felt on the Irish psyche as a result. President Michael D. Higgins, who opened the exhibition in Dublin Castle addressed in particular, how the effects of An Gorta Mor can be seen in the Irish mentality towards emigration. Many Irish diaspora are visiting Coming Home already, with visitors from America and England drawn to exhibition’s themes.

An element of theatre was incorporated into the night, adding a further sense of reality to an event that can sometimes feel confined to the pages of history book. The speakers were joined by local Historian Gerald O’Brien, Philip O’ Regan of Skibbereen Heritage Centre and Carmel O’Driscoll from Skibbereen Theatre Society, who embodied characters from Famine times and read accounts of their daily realities.


The response on the night was wonderful, with the artwork helping people to recall different stories of the Famine they had heard from family members, schools and Irish life. Everyone here at Uillinn was  thrilled with the success of the event. The interest that was aroused by Coming Home’s arrival has not subsided. The Uillinn is being kept busy with visitor numbers daily since the opening. I’m looking forward to meeting new visitors with new stories in coming weeks!