Bachelors Walk is the nickname given to a small area to the north of Doolin, at the the junction between Cahermaccrusheen and Lurraga. Up until fifteen years ago it was inhabited mostly by unmarried farmers. Nearly all of them have died in the last decade and the area has changed as young families have moved in.
The exhibition will focus on this tiny portion of North Clare – just a few fields – as a way of highlighting wider demographic changes in the countryside. I wanted to explore the lost world that these people inhabited, a world that existed not much more than ten years ago but which now seems to have vanished forever. I’m also interested in exploring how that past resurfaces in (and influences) the lives of the current inhabitants.
The exhibition will consist of paintings of the old people who used to live in the area and some of the modern day bachelors, as well as sketches and paintings of the people who now live and work there. There will also be digital illustrations of maps and geological diagrams, plus some images of text and drawings of local stories and songs.