The County Kildare homes of Francis Bacon
A visit to the newly extended and refurbished Dublin Municipal Gallery also known as the The Hugh Lane Gallery, in Parnell Square, Dublin indicated that the artist Francis Bacon (1909‑92) who is the subject of a major installation at the gallery had some Kildare connections, not terribly well known. He was born in Dublin, but his parents moved often between various houses in Ireland and Britain during his childhood and as an infant he lived for a short time at Cannycourt House, near Brannockstown, and later for periods at Straffan Lodge where he lived until 1926 when, according to one account, his father (a British army officer and bloodstock dealer) banished him after seeing him dressed up in his mother’s underwear in front of a mirror, an event which gives some indication of his later directions in both his personal and artistic lives ….
Bacon lived most of his life in London where he became one of the avant‑garde artistic set, producing work which was abstract and often dark and disturbing. However his fame grew in international circles and long before his death in 1992 his work had become highly sought after. His studio, a chaotic mess of artistic and domestic detritus, was shipped and reassmbled with exacting accuracy in a special vault‑like room in the Parnell Square gallery where it is often for viewing. There are other intriguing Kildare links which may bear further research. In between living at Cannycourt and Straffan Lodge he lived with his maternal grandparents at Abbeyleix ‑‑ his grandfather is named as one Kerry Supple, who, being a relatively unusual name, may well be connected to the Kerry Supple who was Inspector of the RIC in Naas during the 1916 period …’
A piece by Liam Kenny outlining the little-known links of the renowned artist Francis Bacon to the County of Kildare, particularly the areas of Brannockstown, Straffan and Abbeyleix.
[Compiled and typed by Liam Kenny; edited by Niamh Mc Cabe]
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