Drawings from Down Under

Honey Eaters, Eagles and 'Mind the Glasses, Please'

All I can remember of my grandfather, Raymond McGrath, is of being told to be quiet. He would be in his studio in his Dunlaoire house, and my grandmother, loud and Texan would tell me to ‘Shush, Raymond’s in his study.’

Mary Catherine Crozier McGrath, my Grandmother with my Mum Jenny, ca. 1943

Grandma, who we called ‘Merrily’, NOT in the hat, ca. 1965, New York, photo by Norman McGrath (i THink)

The only time I ever remember my grandfather actually talking to me was at some kind of dinner party where the wineglasses were ridiculously and periously thin-stemmed. It made him so nervous when I touched a glass that he said ‘Mind the glasses please’ in his quiet but very Australian accent. He seemed a bit stern.

Somebody said my blogs are very long. They are, it’s true. I get very carried away with my stories and the connections between them. I could do with a coffee (insert laughing emoji here but I can’t find one). Last week, TWO of my cousins bought me a coffee. One in Calgary, Canada, and one in New York. Thank you, cousins! (Colin and John).

So this blog is short on text, big on images because although I truly and honestly feel that I hardly had a bond with my gifted grandfather who seemed to tower over us all with his gigantic talent, I do want to honour his work. He couldn’t have been more different with his incredible creative talent and his elusive Australian reserve, to my other grandfather Jim ‘Beep Beep’ O’Donovan, the gentleman of the bombs and who never forgave De Valera for betraying the IRA. I wonder what it was like to be in a room with them, together.

Raymond painting on a beach, somewhere. 1930s?

Raymond took the Osterley in 1926 from Sydney or Brisband to Southampton I think and he never came back. Was in Cambridge and then London until 1940 when he brought the family to Dublin, to his detriment.

Raymon on the Osterley, 1926. What dazzling whites he’s wearing.

Most of the work here I show is the the Irish Architectural Archives in Dublin and all of this work can be seen by appointment.

Illustrations of Honey-eaters by Raymond McGrath © in ‘Tales of the Orient’, a tome he created at the age of 14. All this early work is in the Irish Architectural Archive in Dublin.

Raymond’s Notes on Eagles, ca. 1921, ‘Tales of the Orient’

All of these are in ‘Tales of the Orient, Raymond’s teenage year ‘album’ of poetry and painting. ca 1921.

This is my favourite. Dreamy. Makes me want to go to Australia. Have always loved ‘Gum’ Trees….

1918. His sentiments about war are the same as mine.

So that’s it folks. Considering that you may never have seen any of this work before, please feel free to buy me a coffee since I don’t ask people to subscribe with a bill, and offer all of this work I do for free. Thank you! If you would like a copy of God’s Architect, a Life of Raymond McGrath, you can contact me directly. Its 40-50 in bookstores online, but I can sell it for 30 plus postage. We have very few copies however. https://www.mayobooks.ie/Gods-Architect-Raymond-McGrath-Donal-ODonovan-Kilbride-Books

Trim Castle by Raymond McGrath, ca. 1944. Painted while visiting T.H.White who avoided conscription by running away to Ireland.

If you would like a copy of the book my father Donal O’Donovan wrote about Raymond McGrath, it is a treasure with many excellent colour plates of his work. https://www.mayobooks.ie/Gods-Architect-Raymond-McGrath-Donal-ODonovan-Kilbride-Books