Media Release

For Immediate Release

September 9, 2008

Sinn Féin’s first Senator visits Saint Mary’s Art Gallery to view Aileen Meagher Collection

Robin Metcalfe, Director/Curator of the Saint Mary's University Art Gallery (left) and Dr. J. Colin Dodds, President of Saint Mary's University, discuss some of the High Cross Rubbings from the Aileen Meagher Collection with Senator Pearse Doherty (right). Senator Pearse Doherty and Helen Ferguson review some of the notes on an annotated map of Ireland created by Aileen Meagher. Ferguson is a cultural consultant and a member of the Board of Directors of An Cumann (The Irish Association of Nova Scotia).

Senator Pearse Doherty, a prominent member of Sinn Féin, visited the Saint Mary's University Art Gallery today to view the Aileen Meagher Collection of Irish High Cross Rubbings.

Senator Doherty was in Halifax as part of a visit to Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island from Sept. 8 to 12. Senator Doherty is a prominent member of Sinn Féin and one of its leaders. He is a County Councilor from Donegal and was elected as Sinn Féin’s first Senator in 2007.

The purpose of the visit to the Maritimes is to brief Canadians on the Irish peace process in general and to help strengthen cultural links between Canada and Ireland. During his visit to Canada, he will meet with members of the press, politicians, and the Irish community.

He took time out of his schedule to view the collection at Saint Mary’s because he’s particularly interested in developing links with Gaelic cultural and language activists during his visit to Canada.

The Aileen Meagher Collection consists of approximately 125 objects, including field rubbings in charcoal on tissue paper gathered by Meagher during field trips in the 1960s. The rubbings are of historic low relief carvings from all over Ireland, dating from the Dark Ages through the late Medieval and early Modern periods.

The collection also includes finished works in which Meagher painted or drew in colour directly onto the rubbings to highlight, clarify and dramatise their visual, emotional and cultural content. There is also miscellaneous associated materials, notably an annotated map of Ireland showing the locations and times of all the rubbings.

The Collection came into the possession of the Irish Studies Department through the initiative of the late Cyril Byrne. They were moved to the Art Gallery in 2007, where they have been provisionally stabilised and stored in the Permanent Collection Room, pending more detailed evaluation and eventual conservation.

According to Robin Metcalfe, director/curator of the Saint Mary’s University Art Gallery, the importance of these works lies in both their direct archeological record of the original reliefs, many of which have been subsequently destroyed or damaged, and in their artistic interpretation and re-presentation of their content.

He said many of the images, which represent Biblical subjects interspersed with decorative motifs reminiscent of ancient Celtic art, are of a striking simplicity and graphic power.

The collection is significant not only Canadians and Americans, many of whom are descendants of the Irish Diaspora, but also citizens of the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and the UK.

But the conservation of the works will take significant expertise, time and money.

Metcalfe explained that the finished works are adhered to high-acid backing (wallpaper) from which they cannot be removed without irreparably damaging the delicate tissue, while the high acid content of the backing will gradually eat away at them without conservation intervention.

The processes available for de-acidifying paper are expensive and labour-intensive.

The conservation of the works will include: stabilizing them to protect them from immediate risk and further damage; the provision of secure, long-term storage for the works; research into the artistic, cultural and historic aspects of the collection; the creation of exhibition catalogues, brochures and other publications; and ultimately, the development of ways to make the works accessible through exhibitions, online access, and loans to other exhibiting institutions in Canada and abroad.

Fortunately the project has already secured some funding. Confirmed support already includes: $10,000 from Province of Nova Scotia and An Cumann (The Irish Association of Nova Scotia); $1,000 from the Charitable Irish Society of Halifax and $1,200 from the Embassy of Ireland.

Declan Kelly, Irish Ambassador to Canada, visited the Art Gallery to view the collection in June, and on Aug. 18, the Embassy of Ireland confirmed the grant of $1,200 towards the project. The grant from the embassy will be used to support preliminary preparation of necessary marketing materials, website development and digitization of images of the collection for online.

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For more information:

Blake Patterson
Public Affairs Officer
Saint Mary's University, Public Affairs
(902) 420.5514
E-mail: blake.patterson@smu.ca
www.smu.ca