The village of Greencastle is a commercial fishing port situated on the shores of Lough Foyle, on the north coast of Inishowen in County Donegal, Ireland. The village is about twenty miles north of the city of Derry with views across the Lough to the beautiful Magilligan Strand.

The name “Greencastle” comes from the ancient castle, built in 1305 by the Normans, the remains of which can still be seen there today and which form the subject of this painting.This dramatic scene and its two ruined towers forms not just one of Ireland’s most historic sites but also, a perfect subject for a painting.

The main focus of this composition is of course the castle. It fills about half of the entire canvas. I could have got further back but I felt that some of the finer detail and texture of the old weathered stone may have been lost. The castle almost seems to grow out of the ground. The long unkempt, windswept grass growing up the small mound that the castle sits upon lead the eye upwards. This painting is all about the foreground, all about the castle. I framed the scene in such a way that the nearest, tallest tower forms a vertical line about one third the way across the painting. The eye sweeps up the tower and up into the foreboding dark grey sky. Then over, across the skyline to the sands of Magilligan Strand just visible across Lough Foyle and highlighted by sunshine that has managed to penetrate the threatening skies above. If you enjoyed this little taste of Ireland please remember to “Like” this post/site or recommend it to your colleagues, friends and family…