Light

The celebrations continued this afternoon with a talk about William Orpen by Dominic Lee, the enthusiast responsible for making the sculpture and its unveiling happen. Alongside that was an exhibition he had put together of press cuttings, memorabilia and his own photographs of Orpen's paintings, printed onto canvas. 

After a couple of hours or more in windowless rooms it was back outside in the sun where, under Orpen's gently spinning gaze, photos were taken of all Orpen descendants present, many of whom had not met, or did not even know of each other, before this weekend. Then farewells and hugs and promises to meet up much sooner next time and everyone started to disperse. 

I persuaded our little group to accompany me just down the coast to Dún Laoghaire, ignorantly hoping to find a bit of dereliction from the old port. Not at all - we found attractive, well-used swimming places and a martello tower - where James Joyce wrote the first chapter of Ulysses - which is now a small museum to him and to the coastal defences against Napoleon. A quirky and interesting mix. 

Then a final meal in Dublin centre, a final drink in a Dublin bar and a final night that was later than was wise...


Black and white in colour 171