Hector's Boathouse

Opening today in Castletownsend's Boathouse Gallery is an exhibition entitled Journeys by sculptor and painter, Hector McDonnell. Hector has just returned from a year in New York, a city which is the subject of several of the paintings, drawings and etchings in this exhibition. The name of the exhibition could equally be Coast To Coast, as the rest of the work are landscapes and seascapes of west Cork.

Among the crowd expected along today are Eliza O'Grady and Hector's cousin, Tabitha Elwes, who are close friends. Eliza, who is the assistant director of NYU's Glucksman Ireland House (a centre for Irish studies and culture), has travelled over from New York, "but not especially to see the exhibition," Hector confessed. "She's getting married in Ireland next week."

Doing the opening honours is historian and biographer, Victoria Glendinning, who has been busy researching Jonathan Swift. "Victoria's new book about Swift will be published in September," Hector says. "So we'll be doing a bit of party-swapping."