Page 13 - Iveagh Trust

being a single parent, but Evin changed my life.
I knew if I was going to support him, I needed
to make this art business work. The experience
I had gained during my five years in NY really
helped. Following in my mother’s footsteps, I too
started hanging my art around Merrion Square.
Before I left the US, I had a show at the Whistler
House Museum in Boston. I had created a series
of massive paintings, some of which I brought
home. Those were the days when there were no
luggage limits on planes. I rolled the paintings
up like a roll of carpet and hung them proudly on
the Square. The star of the show was a 10ft x 10ft
cow painting! That day was life-changing. People
honked their horns as they drove by. By 5 pm I
was so tired, but I had a line of people wanting
to buy my work. I sold everything and soon had
a deposit for my first apartment in Cherrywood.
Looking back, it’s so funny that I live so close to
there again now. I am back where I started.
The birth of my son strongly influenced me. I
know it sounds silly, but I watched an Oprah show
that interviewed millionaires, and all of them had
one thing in common: they all loved what they
did. The one thing I really loved was making art.
I always taught and waitressed in between. My
experience in NY taught me that I was still young
in the art game, but I still had to be active as an
artist. After I hung my massive paintings, galleries
started looking for my work, and I was busy.
I went on the back-to-work scheme, and I was
able to slowly get back into earning. My mom
has also been a big influence. I believe she is one
of the best artists in Ireland. She wants to leave
us all her art. She talks about death a lot, which
I find quite amusing – when you lead a creative
life, you have a big list of stuff you want to do
before you depart! She has taught me this.
Take two well-intentioned, hard-working self-
employed people, a worldwide recession, and a
vulture fund, and you get the perfect recipe for
homelessness in Ireland. My former partner and I
were with the wrong bank, and we couldn’t save
our mortgage no matter how hard we tried. We
moved nine times in six years and ultimately
ended up separating.
Annual Report 2023 11
The private rental market is tough, especially
as a single parent, older, and a freelance artist.
The last rental was a reno-viction – this time, I
found myself unable to afford another rental. My
children were scattered among family, and I was
either sleeping in my van or on friends’ couches.
This felt like rock bottom to me. The biggest loss
was missing mothering my children.
I had been on the housing list for several years
since losing my family home to the vulture fund,
but I had always managed to earn or borrow
enough for rent. Now, rents had become so high,
and there were so few rental properties that I just
could not find something affordable that would
allow me to keep my children in their school in
the Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown area. I wanted to
die so many times, and I honestly don’t know
where my strength came from. My friends and
children held me close. My art saved my life too
– it kept me distracted and, most importantly,
earning.
I have always been a problem-solver, and I love
my art business. I create children’s art books
too, which brings me great joy. But I could not
solve my housing situation – it was too hard.
Without a rental I could afford, I eventually
surrendered and started to dream really small.
I imagined what type of keyring I would have for
my new home. Miraculously, that was when the
Iveagh Trust called.
I remember bursting into tears. The type of
strength it takes to hold it all together for my
kids and family was already starting to crumble.
I cried for myself. I grieved the fake person I
was trying to be in order to hide my despair,
and I still cry today. It’s a feeling of being held
and being seen finally. A home is the cure.
A home cures everything.
It is a wonderful feeling to have a home. The
best thing is being able to cook. We cook every
day! My daughter loves baking too. Also, to have
an address! We are sleeping so well too. When I
first lost my home, I was so disoriented – I would
get up in the middle of the night and still think I
was in my old house. We moved so many times,