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Fergus O’Ryan RHA ANCA (1911-1989) CONVOY WOOLEN MILL, DONEGAL signed lower right oil on board 47...

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Fergus O’Ryan RHA ANCA (1911-1989) CONVOY WOOLEN MILL, DONEGAL signed lower right oil on board 47...
Fergus O’Ryan RHA ANCA (1911-1989)
CONVOY WOOLEN MILL, DONEGAL
signed lower right
oil on board
47 by 55cm., 18.5 by 21.5in.
This striking painting by Fergus O’Ryan shows the extensive buildings of the
woolen mills at Convoy in Co. Donegal. Convoy is a small planned village
situated on the River Dell, where flax was traditionally grown and weaving
carried out. By the 1880s the cottage industries of weaving and knitting were
being taken over by new industrial processes which ensured uniform quality of
material. The first Convoy mill dates from 1883, but it was much added to and
altered in the early twentieth century. Throughout its history Convoy was noted
for its tweeds, worsteds and serges, but in 1986 the company went into
receivership and its premises converted into use as an enterprise centre. In the
foreground of O’Ryan’s picture we can see two terraces of mill workers houses,
which are overshadowed by a tall red brick tower bearing the name of the
company. In the background, trees and a patchwork of fields rise from the valley
to cover the nearby hill tops.
Peter Pearson
Wexford, October 2003
€2,000-€3,000 (£1,400-£2,100 sterling approx.)