LADY AUGUSTA GREGORY PORTRAIT DONATED TO 'FORGE AT GORT' FESTIVAL

national | arts and media | press release Thursday January 20, 2011 03:18 by Fred Johnston - Western Writers' Centre - Ionad Scríbhneoirí Chaitlín Maude - Galway westernwriters at eircom dot net 087.2178138

In the great house of Coole Park, Co. Galway, Ireland, Lady Augusta Gregory played host and patron to playwright W.B.Yeats, J.M. Synge and others who formed the Irish Literary Renaissance and created

It seems fitting that the venerable Lady should again come to the rescue of a literature festival in her closest town, Gort, Co. Galway.

Painter Tom Byrne, Rosemarie Rowley, and Fred Johnston at the United Arts Club, Dublin.

A painting of Lady Augusta Gregory has been presented by writer Rosemarie Rowley to Galway's Western Writers' Centre - Ionad Scríbhneoirí Chaitlín Maude - to be auctioned or sold off to support the forthcoming 'Forge at Gort Literature Festival,' planned for the end of March. The popular literature festival, now in its fourth year, has been refused funding by The Arts Council. Several Irish writers have already contributed financial sponsorship to keep the festival going.
The painting was handed over at the United Arts Club, Dublin, recently. Describing the extreme generosity of both Rosemarie Rowley, who had originally purchased the painter, and the artist himself, Tom Byrne, the Western Writers' Centre director, Fred Johnston said that he was humbled by the generosity of writers and artists towards the festival. "It is very fitting that a portrait of Lady Augusta Gregory, whose home was at nearby Coole Park, should now be offered to support a festival of literature in Gort, her nearest town." Tom Byrne exhibits at Dublin's Apollo Gallery.

Sponsorship for the festival is still actively being sought.
Further details on the festival and the portrait can be obtained from (087) 2178138 or westernwriters@eircom.net (Photo: At The United Arts Club, Dublin: left to right - the painter Tom Byrne, Rosemarie Rowley, Fred Johnston)