Irish Artists of Extraordinary Talent

Molly Algood by Helen Tilston (original oil on canvas)

Living in North America and being exposed to art and literature from many cultures I am sometimes not as current on Irish literature and the arts as I would like.  My youngest brother Thomas, living in Dublin, is an avid reader,  patron of the arts and is knowledgeable on music of all genres.  His gifts to me are usually books or CD's.  He is always so excited to tell when he attends a book signing, concert or  lecture of some up and coming artist.  A copy of Ghost Light by Joseph O'Connor came through my mailbox and I have just finished reading it for a second time.  I highly recommend it.

Set in Dublin 1907, a city of whispered rumours. A young actress begins an affair with a damaged older man, the leading playwright at the theatre where she works. Rebellous and flirtatious,Molly Allgood is a girl of the inner city tenements, dreaming of stardom in America. She has dozens of admirers but in the backstage of her life there is a secret.

Her lover, John Synge, a troubled genius, son of the once-prosperous landowning family, a poet of fiery language and tempestuous passions. Yet his life is hampered by convention and by the austere and God fearing mother with whom he lives. Scarred by a childhood of loneliness and severity he has long been ill, but he loves to walk the wild places of Ireland.  The affair, sternly opposed by friends and family is turbulent, sometimes cruel, often tender.

Many years later, an old woman makes her way across London on a morning after a hurricane. Christmas is coming.......
A story of love's commitment, of partings and reconciliations, of the courage involved in living on nobody's else's terms, Ghost Light is profoundly moving .

Edmund John Millington Synge

Edmund John Millington Synge (16 April 1871 – 24 March 1909) was an Irish play writer and poet. He was one of the founders of the Abbey Theatre. He is best known for his play "The Playboy of the Western World.
Synge suffered from Hodgkins disease  a form of cancer and at the time untreatable. He died just weeks short of his 38th birthday and was at the time trying to complete his last play, Deirdre of the Sorrows.

Author Joseph O'Connor

The Author is Joseph O'Connor
Joseph Victor O'Connor is an Irish  novelist. He is known for his 2002 historical novel Star of the Sea. Before success as an author he was a journalist with the Sunday Tribune  newspaper ^. He is a regular contributor to RTE  He is a member of Aosdana<sup>.


Joseph O'Connor has a sister of extraordinary talent, namely Sinead O'Connor</sup> 

 <sup>Sinead sings with Christy Moore - The Heart.   


 The Heart would make a good sound track for the Movie "Ghost Light"  My portrait I feel resembles my interpretation of  Molly Allgood .  I can wish to see it on a bill board.




Do you feel the O'Connor's have talent?  Have you read any of Joseph O'Connor's books?  Do you like Sinead's voice?</sup>