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Artist: Maurice Joseph MacGonigal PPRHA (1900-1979) Title: Farmyard, Inverin, Connemara Signature: signed lower right and titled verso Medium: oil on board Size: 30½ x 41cm (12 x 16.1in) Framed Size: 48 x 58.5cm (18.9 x 23in) Provenance: Bears label on reverse "No. 5 oil Farmyard, Inverin, Connemara. Maurice MacGonigal RHA, 13 Rock Road, Booterstown, Dublin; Gorry Gallery, Dublin; Private Collection Exhibited: Gorry Gallery, Dublin 2000 a#morebtn { color: #de1d01; } a#morebtn:hover { cursor: pointer;} In this traditional West of Ireland scene, people gather to chat and watch the re-roofing of a thatched cottage. On the cottage's roof, the thatcher is visible, bundling together reeds in preparation for tying them to the roof. Three women, two of whom are dressed in traditional red aprons and whit... Read more Maurice Joseph MacGonigal Lot 99 - 'Farmyard, Inverin, Connemara' Estimate: €7,000 - €9,000 In this traditional West of Ireland scene, people gather to chat and watch the re-roofing of a thatched cottage. On the cottage's roof, the thatcher is visible, bundling together reeds in preparation for tying them to the roof. Three women, two of whom are dressed in traditional red aprons and white shawls, talk to a man on horseback. Above them rises the gable of a second cottage, also about to be thatched. Visible, projecting from the roof, are short lengths of wood, to which the reeds will be tied. A low stone wall in the foreground and a green-painted gate keep in chickens and geese that wander around the cottages contentedly, pecking at the ground. To the right, a man carries a bundle of reeds to the thatcher. Maurice MacGonigal was born in Dublin in 1900. After leaving school at Synge Street, he was apprenticed to his uncle Joshua Clarke, the stained-glass manufacturer, and was encouraged by his cousin Harry Clarke to study art. In 1916 MacGonigal enlisted in Na Fianna Eireann, and was later a member of the IRA, participating in raids during the War of Independence. Arrested in 1920, he was interned in Ballykinlar Camp, Co. Down, for a year. After his release, MacGonigal went back to the Clarke studios, but soon left to take up a scholarship at the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art, where he studied under Patrick Touhy and Seán Keating. After a stay in Holland in 1927, he returned to Ireland inspired with the concept of landscape painting expressing a sense of national identity. During the 1930's and 40's, he did some of his finest work in the west of Ireland. He loved to sketch at Inverin, a coastal area between Carraroe and Spiddal. In this characteristic Connemara landscape of bogs. lakes and rocky fields, many of the whitewashed stone cottages still bore the traditional thatched roofs. MacGonigal also painted portraits, and sets for the Abbey Theatre. From 1924 to 1978, he exhibited regularly at the Royal Hibernian Academy, serving twice as Keeper, and in 1962 was appointed President. He also taught at the National College of Art, where he was Professor of Painting from 1954 to 1969. A retrospective exhibition of his work was held at the Hugh Lane Municipal Art Gallery in 1991. Peter Murray, March 2021