Artist working To the Letter in Fermoy and Mitchelstown

On April 2nd the usually closed doors of ‘The Coal Shed’ in Fermoy will open to the public, revealing “To The Letter” an exhibition commissioned as part of Cork County Council’s Commemorations Programme. 

Through the exhibition, award-winning artist and theatre designer Dolores Lyne is marking the centenary of her grand-uncle Liam Lynch, Chief of Staff of the Anti-Treaty IRA. Inspired by a trove of personal letters written by Liam to his brother Tom, the confidant in whom he felt safe writing unique letters that covered the most dramatic and tragic events of Lynch’s life in the War of Independence and the Civil War.

Works on canvas, the paintings focus on incidents and stories drawn from the brothers’ correspondence. The letters are brought to life, referencing real places and people only hinted at or concealed behind initials, decoding at last the real addresses, the people who opened their homes and their hearts.  

‘To The Letter’ will initially be presented in three linked exhibitions, in Fermoy and Mitchelstown public libraries and in a repurposed historic building – ‘The Coal Shed’ in Blackwater Shopping Centre, Fermoy.  Unchanged in a century the atmospheric ‘Coal Shed’ directly connects the artworks to the era. Filled with Dolores Lyne’s exciting new works it will be a dramatic space to encounter these important paintings, and a powerful exploration of Cork history.