Poetry Reading by Nell Regan + Discussion - Cathy Henderson: An Appreciation

Presented in association with Poetry Ireland, Nell Regan reads from her new collection, Thirty-Six Views of the Sugarloaf, (Arlen House 2026).  Moya Cannon has called the book ‘an absolute delight.’ 

Such minor griefs
to a mountain –

a glimmer on schist,
that’s it.
-
 
Following the reading, Cathy Henderson: An Appreciation invites special guests Catherine Marshall, Tracy Staunton and Patricia Burns to reflect on and celebrate the work and legacy of their friend and colleague Cathy Henderson. 

From her ambitious wood block printing to her ground breaking portraits of cleansing workers that were exhibited at Mermaid nearly 20 years ago, to the legacy of the 1913 Lockout tapestry and her work in the prisons as Artist in the community, Henderson left her mark in many ways. 

This event is supported by Poetry Ireland and is part of the supporting programme for the exhibition Thirty-Six Views of the Sugarloaf by Nell Regan & Cathy Henderson.

Catherine Marshall is a curator and art historian. She lectured in art history at Trinity College Dublin, the National College of Art and Design and University College Dublin. As founding head of collections at the Irish Museum of Modern Art she curated exhibitions of outsider art from the Musgrave Kinley Collection, exhibitions of Irish art in China, USA and the UK and throughout Ireland with the IMMA National Programme, and was curator to the Engagement project, which brought together artists from the Kilkenny Collective for Arts Talent, Callan, with artists from widely differing mainstream practices for a series of exhibitions 2013-21. She co-edited Art and Architecture of Ireland, Vol. 5, Twentieth century (2014) and Janet Mullarney (2019). She is an active member of Na Cailleacha. In 2019 she was recipient of the first honorary doctorate in the History of Art from University College Dublin.

Tracy Staunton is an artist and architect. She received a BArch(Hons) from UCD in 1988 and a MA ACW from NCAD in 2009. She has exhibited since 1994, working mainly with print, drawing, photography, and video. She is a long-standing member of Black Church Print Studios. Her work has consistently referenced and presented the City, specifically Dublin City. Previous relevant projects such as ‘Wounded Time’ and ‘10 Dreams in Dublin’, investigate ideas about how space remembers. This work was based in and on the material culture of the built environment but presented what is hidden within it, and how this is experienced and has agency. These ideas about City and memory, private and public space, and the visible and invisible City were developed and expanded in ‘The Blue Rooms’ which was exhibited at The City Assembly House, in Dublin in 2023. Tracy is currently working on ‘City-mind-Dublin series’ which will be exhibited with an accompanying book in 2027. 

Born in Dublin, Patricia Burns studied Fine Art at Dublin Institute of Technology and Crawford College of Art & Design, Cork. She lives and works in Cork. Solo exhibitions of her work have been held at the Lavit Gallery, Cork (2019); Taylor Galleries, Dublin (2024, 2021, 2019, 2016, 2014); Garter Lane Arts Centre, Waterford (2012); Triskel Arts Centre, Cork (2011); Vanguard Gallery, Cork (2008); and the Ashford Gallery, Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin (2007).

Thirty-Six Views of the Sugarloaf is funded by The Arts Council and supported by Wicklow County Arts Office through the annual Strategic Project Award Scheme.