Info:
Teach na nÓg is a very personal project documenting the return to my childhood home in Co. Leitrim. In September 1998 my Father passed away, leaving this house empty for over a decade. This was the first time I had set foot in the cottage since the summer before his passing. It was a feeling unlike any other I have ever experienced as I walked up the lane way to the house. It was as if the house had been trapped in time, in a kind of stasis awaiting my return. Apart from the presence of mice and a remarkable amount of dead butterflies, the house was exactly as I remembered it.
During this project, the camera was not just used as a visual medium to capture specific moments but became a therapeutic tool through which I could translate my surroundings. Due to the emotionally charged nature of this series, I believe the images have a haunting quality, a sadness that is conveyed even if the viewer is unaware of the context.
The house was finally sold in December 2012.