The Royal Circle Awakening the Ghosts of Dun Ailinne
Rising above the plains of Mid Kildare the summit of Dun Ailinne does not offer the jagged ruins of a medieval castle or the ornate carvings of a later era. Instead it offers something far older and more visceral the earth itself sculpted by human hands into a massive circular embrace.
As an artist I find myself drawn to these high places the royal sites of ancient Ireland where the veil between the physical landscape and the mythological Otherworld feels perpetually thin. Dun Ailinne was the ancestral seat of the Kings of Leinster a site of assembly ritual and seasonal fire. To stand here is to stand within a crown made of grass and soil a geometric masterpiece that has endured for millennia.
The Architecture of the Invisible
What fascinates me most about Dun Ailinne is what is no longer there. Archaeology tells us of vast timber amphitheatres and intricate wooden structures that once pulsed with the energy of thousands. Now those structures are ghosts existing only as post holes beneath the sod.
In my work I seek to paint this invisible architecture. I am not interested in a literal reconstruction but rather in the echo of the space. The way the light catches the massive earthen ramparts at golden hour suggests a phantom boundary a line between the sacred interior and the wild world outside.
Texture Ritual and the Sun
The visual language of Dun Ailinne is one of circularity and flow. Unlike the sharp defensive angles of later fortifications this site was built for ritual. It was a theatre for the Sun.
- The Palette
- I find myself reaching for deep ochres mossy greens and the bruised purples of a Leinster sky.
- The Mark Making
- My brushstrokes here become more rhythmic following the curve of the embankments. There is a sweep to this landscape that demands a certain fluidity of movement in the paint.
- The Folklore
- This was the site of the Aenach the great assembly where myths were reinforced through law and celebration. There is a lingering vibration of voices in the wind here a sense of a crowded solitude.
A Connection to the Goddess
Long before it was a seat for kings this landscape was tied to the Earth Mother. The name itself whispers of ancient origins perhaps linked to the goddess Aillenn. When I paint these banks I am mindful that I am painting a feminine landscape one that cradles and protects rather than one that dominates or attacks.
In my studio the sketches from Dun Ailinne are evolving into something more abstract. I find the literal horizon line beginning to dissolve replaced by the concentric circles of the rath. It is an exploration of the cycle of time the way the grass grows over the wood and the way the myth outlasts the monument.
Artistic Reflection To paint Dun Ailinne is to paint the memory of power. It is a study in how the land holds onto the stories we tell it long after the storytellers have returned to the earth.