Sony

MAEL SEACHNAILL MAC DOMNAILL

January 4, 2023 by infomatique

SCULPTURE BY JAMES McKENNA

This area on the banks of the River Boyne has improved since I last visited but it is still a bit untidy and the plaque has disappeared.

Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill, also called Máel Sechnaill Mór or Máel Sechnaill II (949 – 2 September 1022), was a King of Mide and High King of Ireland. His great victory at the Battle of Tara against Olaf Cuaran in 980 resulted in Gaelic Irish control of the Kingdom of Dublin.

Máel Sechnaill belonged to the Clann Cholmáin branch of the Uí Néill dynasty. He was the grandson of Donnchad Donn, great-grandson of Flann Sinna and great-great-grandson of the first Máel Sechnaill, Máel Sechnaill mac Máele Ruanaid. The Kings of Tara or High Kings of Ireland had for centuries alternated between the various Uí Néill branches. By Máel Sechnaill’s time this alternating succession passed between Clann Cholmáin in the south and the Cenél nEógain in the north, so that he succeeded Domnall ua Néill in 980. This system had survived previous challenges by outsiders including the kings of Ulster, Munster and Leinster, and the Viking invasions.

In 980, Olav Cuarán, King of Dublin, summoned auxiliaries from Norse-ruled Scottish Isles and from Mann and attacked Meath, but was defeated by Máel Sechnaill at the Battle of Tara. Reginald, Olaf’s heir, was killed. Máel Sechnaill followed up his victory with a siege of Dublin which surrendered after three days and nights. When Maél Sechnaill took Dublin in 980, according to the Annals of Tigernach, he freed all the slaves then residing in the city.

SUZANNE WALKING BY JULIAN OPIE

November 24, 2022 by infomatique

LOCATED OUTSIDE THE HUGH LANE GALLERY ON PARNELL SQUARE IN DUBLIN

Julian Opie’s artwork is similar to pop-art. Portraits and animated walking figures, rendered with minimal detail in black line drawing, are hallmarks of the artist’s style. His themes have been described as “engagement with art history, use of new technology, obsession with the human body” and “work with one idea across different media”. Similarly, the national art critic of The Australian, Christopher Allen, laments Opie’s “limited repertoire of tricks” and described his work as “slight and ultimately commercial, if not actually kitsch”. When asked to describe his approach, Opie said “I often feel that trying to make something realistic is the one criterion I can feel fairly sure of. Another one I sometimes use is, would I like to have it in my room? And I occasionally use the idea, if God allowed you to show Him one [portrait] to judge you by, would this really be it?”

In 2007, the four-sided LED sculpture Ann Dancing was installed in Indianapolis, United States, as the first artwork on the Indianapolis Cultural Trail. Opie has also created a monument to singer Bryan Adams.

Yesterday I purchased a Sony 18-105 lens for my FX30 has it was highly recommended. Unfortunately, I am very disappointed especially because of distortion which was so extreme that the majority of the images were unusable.

WIND SCULPTURE BY EAMONN O’DOHERTY

November 21, 2022 by infomatique

CLONTARF PROMENADE SUNDAY 20 NOVEMBER 2022

I photographed this using a Sony FX30 combined with a Sony 90mm G lens. The FX30 is a video-first camera and does not have a shutter and while I do like the still images that it produces they are close to unusable if there is any movement within the frame and that means that at least 20% of my photographs need to be deleted when I return home.

Éamonn O’Doherty (1939 – 4 August 2011) was an Irish sculptor, painter, printmaker, photographer and lecturer.He was best known for his sculptures in public places. He was born and raised in Derry, and died, aged 72, in Dublin.

Well known sculptures by Éamonn O’Doherty include the Quincentennial Sculpture on Eyre Square in Galway and the Anna Livia monument, in 2011 moved to the Croppies’ Acre Memorial Park, in Dublin.

O’Doherty also won awards for his paintings, amongst other on the Irish Exhibition of Living Art. An exhibition of his photographs from the collection of the Irish Traditional Music Archive toured around the United States.

In the summer of 1966, O’Doherty was the first manager of Sweeney’s Men and had painted the band’s logo on the front of their van, from a drawing by Johnny Moynihan. According to Andy Irvine, O’Doherty was quite adept at playing the flute. He had also toured with Irvine in Denmark in the early part of 1966.