Capall Dorcha / A Dark Horse

Original Painting

Medium: Palette knife acrylic painting on canvas.
Size: 28” x 20”

 This painting was inspired by a story relating to Rossmore Forest Park, just outside Monaghan town. Part of the School’s collection on Duchas.ie, it tells of a man who met a gentleman on a black horse who whisked him away to his castle in Rossmore and treated him well, but then demanded that the young man tell him a story. As the man had no tale to relate, he was put outside. He then met these mysterious evil men, so he grabbed a hazel twig and with it, put the men into a deep sleep. The man then ran back to the castle and told of what had happened to him. The owner was thrilled and treated him to a grand supper and a fine room for the night. However, in the morning the man awoke in his own field, convinced his adventure had been a trick by the fairies.
In this picture, we see the gentleman on his horse, on the Yew Walk in Rossmore Park, where the branches form a dark passage, only broken by intermittent rays of late afternoon sun.