Cill Rialaig Artist Retreat, a restored famine village on the edge of the Atlantic in Ballinskelligs, Co Kerry offers a unique environment for artists in search of peace, space and solitude.
Time spent at Cill Rialaig is truly a “time apart”.
The rush and distraction of daily life falls away, to be replaced by a gentle immersion in light, space and peace. Here I lift my eyes to a limitless sky, the ocean stretches to an infinite horizon, and the ever changing weather moves in from the sea bringing rain and sun and the full spectrum of light and mood, colour and energy. Time slows down, and I measure my days to a new and natural rhythm.
Waking with the first light streaming through the tiny loft window of my cottage studio, walking up Bolus Head past fields of sheep, rushing streams and ancient standing stones, scrambling on the rocky outcrops of Valentia Island to the rhythm and roar of thundering waves, and painting in the cottage studio at night, deep peace, a turf fire aglow, music of Altan filling the room.
This is what Cill Rialaig offers me, peace and space and a quiet time to be with myself and my art. A filling of the well of the spirit. Mostly my art is about the pure joy of being fully alive in the world, immersed in the vital energies of wind and water, sea and sky. In Cill Rialaig I discover how deeply connected we are to our past and a sense too of a deeper belonging, in tune with the rhythm of the tides and the turning of the seasons.
Brenda Malley 