Seán Ó Brógáin

DERG CASTLE 22-11-2014 E side of Castle Derg, as seen from the entrance to the park, with the sun setting. public information Sunday morning began early for me, a fine, bright, frosty Sunday at that, i headed off to Aghyaran, Co. Tyrone for Volleyball practice with Spikers, its bitter and i can hardly see the road the sun is so low and bright. The morning before saw me driving to Dungannon in similar conditions, this time to the seat of O'Neill power in Ulster for the O'Neill Historical Societies journal No. 22 launch. But today i am in contested zone between the clans of Tír Chonaill and Tír Eoghain. So as the practice venue was close to Castlederg, i decided it would good to have the camera ready my SD cards clean and if i get the chance weather permitting i might get to view the Castle. I dont know how many times, i thought of this site, over the years but with one thing and another it never happened, so was my chance. The previous day after the book l

Dúiche Néill Mayor Councillor Roger Burton In association with O’Neill Country Historical Society will launch Dúiche Néill No. 22.  with Guest speaker Dr. Hiram Morgan Senior Lecturer, U.C.C. and author of "Tyrone's Rebellion" 1993 & "Battle of Kinsale" Editor 2004. On Saturday 22 November 2014 at 12.30pm, Ranfurly House Arts & Visitors Centre, Market Square, Dungannon Artwork by Seán Ó'Brógáin (original's private collection) My involvement with the event is minor. I provided the artwork used on the cover of the journal ( see image, originally created for Clive Hollicks book "the battle of Benburb" ).    The front cover of the journal shows a study of 3 Gaelic soldiers from the Ulster Army during the 1640/50s. The back cover shows the Gaelic Cavalry of Owen Roe O'Neill routing the Scots Covenanter's at the battle of Benburb in 1646. Courtesy of Clive Hollick.

Well getting back into a bit of work, but an off i got with Amazon was a great offer from "Audibles.au" for audible books. I downloaded my free book, but then i went searching and found Josephus "Jewish War" its in 3 parts apprx. 8 hours each and its absolutely fantastic.   Its a wealth of info and the narrator is perfect, even if some dispute Josephus its interesting to hear his version of the events, there's a history of Jerusalem, a background to the period and short bio's of the various personalities. So when i get through this i am going to get Xenophon "anabasis/march of the 10,000 or Persian Expedition" which i can hardly wait, although i do have this in retro hardback BCA version along with Gallic Wars, Lives. As i read "anabasis" many years ago i chose Josephus instead as i have never read his work. I am not sorry for this book inspires my imagination, those sandy places, massive set piece battles, squalid

portrait of Fionn Brennan and his sons Well after a busy few months, with the completion of the last Osprey book, I've taken the opportunity to organise my studio, work up a few ideas and just catch up on the mundane necessities of modern life out. Its actually nice to take it easy for a few weeks, puttering around with ones own ideas and doing the normal things. But alas here in Ireland we have been buffeted all week with the tail end of the Atlantic's worst weather, so i didn't manage to benefit from our previous nice weather, i suppose its natures way of balancing the books weather-wise? But this juncture has allowed me to look at a number of ideas/thoughts that have been whispering in my ear for sometime now. These have been jingling around in my head , some may seem slightly divergent from my usual work, but they are there, so lets roll with them. to each cow its calf For me these are like flickers which can disappear like the embers of a campfire wit

Ramillies 1706-2014 the new books Copyright 2014 Osprey Publishing Introduction Well folks, its been a while ( i'm not a naturally inclined blogger ), but i felt as I just completed artwork for a book, i received the advanced copies of the new "Ramillies 1706" book, i would attempt a blog. When you get the new copies of the book its for me a mix of anxiety and excitement, will your ideas work as an illustration as a piece of visual art and to compliment the narrative of the book. Anyway heres a quick picture of the new book. This book was different in a number of ways from those i have previously worked. Firstly i know the author ( for his sorrows ) personally, its a period i have a particular interest, there is an Irish connection on both sides, i've been to the battlefield twice and we decided to take a field trip to walk the site to gather our own references. So it was nice to be working on a familiar period with someone i know fairly well. As some