Gerard Dillon (1916-1971)

Gerard Dillon visited the island of Inishlackan, a mile off Roundstone in the Atlantic Ocean, in April 1951. He had been given the use of a cottage on Inishlackan for twelve months and he invited his fellow painters George Campbell and James MacIntyre to stay with him. Dillon was inspired by the wildness and lack of civilisation of the island. When discussing the area, he said, 'Small it was in every way; little cottages dotted here and there through its little fields; every inch of land seemed to have a stone wall around it' (J. White, Gerard Dillon, Dublin, 1994, p. 74).