Rare is the landscape where the physical and the spiritual meet. Ireland,
to me, is such a place. From the first time I traveled there with my grandmother,
who was ninety-eight at the time, I was struck by the confluence of the
people and their natural surroundings. One can only wonder how the Irish
people developed their unique perspective on life - oral history, music,
poetry, a somber disregard for the mundane, all these qualities infuse
life on that island. The earthy sophistication of Dublin, the pastoral
lushness of the midlands, the wild, harsh power of Co. Sligo and Clare,
the sub-tropical sunshine of Kerry and West Cork, each of these small pockets
have their own mystique, their own customs and accents. Each county has
dictated the poetry, music, and temperament of its people.
Every journey "home" for me brings a new understanding
of the dichotomy of being Irish-American - the longing for a rich and powerful
ancient culture, the attachment to land, to water, to the natural world, and
the famine and political oppression that drove people away from their magnificent
homeland. I have come to understand the longing for home my grandparents felt
as struggling new Americans. Like many other Irish who were forced to seek a
better life, they found success and great pride in becoming Americans, but always
there was that understanding that their hearts, their spirits lay with their
people, the beautiful landscapes that surrounded them as children, and their
pride in that culture that gave them the strength, the humor for their new world.
Over the past five years, my wish has been that for those who purchase one of
my photographs can experience the peace and beauty of Ireland, as I have tried
to capture it, and that my work will give them an appreciation for that which,
to me, is Ireland.