Ag tiomáint na ba abhaile / Driving the cows home

Original Painting

Medium: A palette knife oil painting on canvas.
Size: 20”x 28”

To me, this is a scene so often repeated on many a country road throughout the land. In the background we have the rolling drumlins of Monaghan as a young boy helps his grandfather to drive the cows home, guiding that last cow, the “straggler” down a typical rural road, and watched by his faithful Border Collie. Along the way, they pass a derelict house, roof damaged, wild plants climbing the weathered walls. This scene represents the continuation of traditions, the handing down of old ways, the abandoned dwelling, a reminder of previous generations who also would have passed this way with their cattle through the ages.