Artist ‘blown away’ by response to new Banagher wall mural

Lusmagh artist Lisa Glynn has said she is “blown away” by the support and interest from people following the unveiling of her new mural in Banagher.

The eye-catching art piece, which depicts a barge on the Shannon in years gone by, is located on the the Cloghan Road approaching Banagher beside the memory garden.

Lisa was asked by local man Ray Flannery to paint the mural beside a memory garden he launched three years ago. Ray said that the mural is “absolutely outstanding” and that it “couldn't be better.” He added that the mural was a “total community effort” that adds to the entrance into the town and complements his memory garden very well.

Speaking about Ray's memory garden, the artist said it was great vision on his part. “He started to grow flowers and people started giving him flowers. People give him a flower to grow a memory of their loved ones, so that's where all those flowers came from along there.”

Ray lives across the road from the mural and was reminiscing about his childhood one day and thought that a mural of a barge would look nice on the wall. He said: "I saw it as an opportunity for a mural to be created on the wall, a mural depicting a scene many years ago on the River Shannon. I feel that it's still in the living memory of the people in the town."

Offaly Local Development's advice and assistance was "invaluable", Ray added, commending local tradesmen who helped in replastering and painting the wall. He said that he was grateful to Lisa for taking the mural and making it "a focus in the community."

“He (Ray) was remembering when he was a young boy hitting his ball up against the wall with the hurl and the barge that he used to stop when he'd hear the barges off the Shannon passing by,” artist Lisa said of the inspiration for the new art feature. She would like people to have “their own take” on the mural and what it represents as she believes a lot of people are familiar with the bridge in Banagher and the barge area. “I think it's lovely to remember the people that used to work on those barges at that time.”

“Everybody has their own memories of it and the actual mural itself, the barge on it and the man represents where it all began. I couldn't believe the amount of people passing by to stop. They all had stories to tell about their dads or about the bridge (that) used to open up and close.”

The mural has “really touched” the local people and that the response she has received to date has been “amazing”.

Lisa was inspired by her childhood on the River Shannon when creating the mural. “I've sold many paintings of the River Shannon so it was very familiar to me to paint that. The self-taught artist added that she is inspired by local scenes, saying "it's all familiar territory”.

A beautiful photo of the mural was taken by Marty Guinan recently which received a fantastic reaction on the Offaly Independent social media. Lisa said that it was one of the “best shots” taken of the mural. “Marty used to pass by most days and stop for a chat when I was doing the mural.”

Lisa said that she wouldn't usually create murals due to the Irish weather but she now has lots of commissions coming in for her artwork as people loved the new mural in Banagher.

“I was in contact with a few Irish muralists just to see how much would a mural like that usually cost.” Lisa got advice as to which materials were best to use for an outdoor mural and fellow muralists and artists said that the mural was 'brilliant' for her first ever creation.

“I've never taken on anything as big as that," said Lisa. She has received many compliments from the people of Banagher saying that the mural is 'marvellous', that 'it brightens up the town' and makes them smile every time they walk past it.

“They're saying it's like walking into the Shannon because if you drive from Cloghan into Banagher and the other way, it kind of feels like you're driving into it. I kind of have it 3D there.”

Lisa, who sells her paintings in Banagher and at Christmas markets, also has plans to paint the sides of the wall beside the mural which remain unpainted. “That's my next thing now. I have some paint left over. I'm trying to get a man now to spray the sides.”

“Selling local scenes is my thing and portraiture. I paint with a knife a lot of the time,” she told the Offaly Independent.

While Lisa was interested in art in her youth, it wasn't considered a possible career at that time. Despite this, the Lusmagh woman continued sketching and creating art in her free time and after she had her son Rian, who has Down Syndrome, Lisa gave up work and got back into painting. “I just needed to do something for myself.” Then, Lisa began doing art summer camps for children before teaching adult art classes from her home in Lusmagh.

“I have a big sunroom here in my house and they come to my house and it's just lovely and casual. It's just giving people a hobby from beginners to advanced. If they're beginners I do a step-by-step painting and if they're advanced I do any medium.”

The mural was funded by Offaly Local Development and from local fundraising events such as a table quiz which was held in Flynn's bar in Banagher last May. A launch and appreciation night took place in The Corner House in Banagher on Friday, October 20. The owner of the pub, Sean Corrigan, also purchased a prototype of the mural which is on view there.