Launch 5:30pm Thu 2 May
Running 1-31 May at Offaly County Council
Launch 6:30pm Wed 3 July
Running 4-31 July at Edenderry Library
The Atrium, Offaly County Council
Charleville Road, Tullamore, Co Offaly
Edenderry Library
JKL Street, Edenderry, Co. Offaly
Opening Hours Offally County Council
Mon-Fri 9am-4pm
Opening Hours Edenderry Library
Tue 9:30am-5:30pm / Wed 9:30am-8pm / Thu-Fri 9:30am-5:30pm / Sat 9:30am-1pm
Croghan Hill, an extinct volcano, is seen by many as a sacred mountain, and, as the surrounding landscape is so flat, it can be seen for miles. The view from the top is extensive, and has played an important role in Ireland for thousands of years as a burial place and place of pilgrimage. Today, hundreds of people still climb the hill on 17th March as St Patrick was said to have stuck a holy well there with his horse.
36 Views of Croghan Hill is a series of photographs by Veronica Nicholson depicting the landscape and people of the townlands surrounding Croghan Hill in various seasons and weather conditions. The idea for the series was inspired by the fact that Croghan Hill is visible from so many places around the county, which brought to mind a famous set of woodblock prints from 19th century Japan called 36 Views of Mount Fuji by an artist called Hokusai, who completed the series when he was in his seventies. Hokusai has given us an enduring record of life in 19th century Japan; Nicholson’s photographs have recorded for posterity a section of life in the 21st century in North Offaly.
The exhibition is funded by Offaly County Council’s Creative Ireland Programme 2019 and Exhibition Programme 2019.
About Veronica Nicholson
Veronica Nicholson is a photographic artist and educator, whose work has been exhibited internationally and nationally. She grew up in Dublin, completing a Diploma in Professional Photography in 1990 during which she documented a year in the life of Trinity College Dublin which was exhibited in the TCD Atrium. She moved to Clare in 1994 to work in the Burren College of Art as Head of Photography and was co-founder and director of the Courthouse Artist Studios in Ennistymon. In Clare she responded to place by creating many bodies of work: The Village, exhibited in Gothenburg Irish Festival; Nature Morte shown in the RHA and Irish Cultural Centre, Paris; Through Each Others Eyes, an exchange with photographers from Phoenix, Arizona.
While studying for her MA from NCAD in 2010 she moved to Offaly. Since that time she has continued to work in a context-specific way, producing work for two Percent for Arts commissions from Offaly County Council in 2012 and 2016. In March 2019 she will exhibit a recent series of works made in response to the hill of Croghan, long held to be a sacred site amongst the people of the area, in Croghan Community Centre. This exhibition moves to Aras an Chontae, Tullamore in May.