Before the stone wells and the paved paths there was the water and the fire. At the site now known as St Brigid’s Well in Tully I find myself looking past the modern devotion to find the ancient pulse of the Tuatha Dé Danann. This is the realm of the goddess Brigid daughter of the Dagda a being of the bright lineage whose influence was so vast it could never be fully eclipsed.
For an artist this site is a masterclass in the elements. It is where the deep dark moisture of the earth meets the flickering heat of the sun and the hearth. In the myths of the Tuatha Dé Danann Brigid was a poet a healer and a smith. She represents the spark of inspiration the very same spark I seek when I set up my easel in the shadow of the ancient trees.
The Mirror of the Otherworld
The well itself is a portal. In Irish mythology water is often the threshold between our world and the realm of the Sidhe. When I look into the surface of the well I am not just looking at a reflection of the Kildare sky but at a visual representation of the veil.
In my paintings I focus on the way the water moves and breaks the light. I want to capture that shimmering quality that the Tuatha Dé Danann were known for their ethereal golden presence. I use washes of transparent blue and silver over deep murky greens to suggest that there is a world existing just beneath the surface of the water waiting to be glimpsed.
The Clootie Tree and the Fabric of Prayer
One of the most striking visual elements of this site is the clootie tree where pilgrims tie scraps of cloth as symbols of their intentions. To me these are the modern echoes of the Tuatha Dé Danann’s ancient magic. Each piece of fabric is a mark made by a human hand a soft textural contrast to the rough bark of the tree.
- The Palette I find inspiration in the faded colors of these ribbons the soft pinks weathered blues and frayed whites that have been bleached by the sun.
- The Composition I focus on the tangled complexity of the branches. There is an organic chaos here that speaks to the wild untamed nature of the old gods.
The Smith and the Flame
Brigid’s connection to the forge is central to my artistic interpretation of this place. The Tuatha Dé Danann were masters of craft and metalwork. Even at a water site I feel the presence of the fire. The way the sunlight hits the water can sometimes look like molten gold or glowing embers.
In the studio I bring this into my work through the use of metallic leaf or high contrast highlights. I want to evoke the feeling of a goddess who could forge both a sword and a poem. The well at Tully is not just a place of quiet prayer it is a place of creative power where the land itself seems to be constantly making and remaking itself.
Artistic Reflection Standing at the well I realize that Brigid is not a figure of the past but a presence in the present. To paint this site is to participate in the same act of creation that the Tuatha Dé Danann championed a way to bridge the gap between the seen and the unseen.