Oliver Connolly must be one of the best-known artists in the midlands given that he has taught art to thousands of children and adults largely drawn from the wider Tullamore area for over forty years. Practising very much as a topographical artist it is a pleasure to include his work in this series.
Oliver Connolly was kind enough to make available a series of drawings of the buildings of Tullamore for the publication A walk through Tullamore issued in December 1979. Now long out of print it was the first historical study of an Offaly town to provide illustrations by an artist since Thomas Lalor Cooke issued his Picture of Parsonstown (Birr) in 1826. We have already featured that book in this series.
Oliver is a reserved man who has never sought the limelight. That said he has been active over the past forty years in supporting the participation of budding young artists in the many exhibitions held in the county at shows, festivals and Christmas events – the most important in recent years being the annual National Agricultural Show held near Tullamore. These events have provided encouragement, inspiration and a platform for new artists to come to the top. In this Oliver Connolly was building on the tradition begun by Mrs Mary (B) Kennedy (Bean Ui Cinneide) of Elmfield, Tullamore from 1956 when she was the main organiser of the arts section of the annual An Tostal exhibition. In his early days Oliver Connolly worked with Salts Ireland, but in the late 1970s he decided to move full-time into art teaching having studied with the National College of Art. Besides his private teaching he also taught with Colaiste Cholim, Tullamore and at Killina.
The O’Connor Square exhibitions came to an end with the sale of the market house, generally called the town hall, in O’Connor Square, Tullamore in 1960. Little happened in the 1960s as no alternative exhibition venue was made available. Things changed in the 1970s and 1980s with the advent, first of all, of Junior Chamber Tullamore and in the late 1980s with the foundation of the Offaly Arts Group, promoted by Daingean curate Fr Frank Farell with the help of an active committee including Mary Wilson, Catherine O’Brien and Brid Broderick, among others. This led on to art exhibitions generally held in the Courtyard Restaurant, Tullamore when the Sheedys were the proprietors. New artists emerged such as Mark O’Neill who lived in Killeigh for some years and the talented Deirdre Dunne and Gemma Guihan, among others. Later a county arts officer was appointed and in 2023 the Esker Arts Centre was opened in Tullamore to tremendous acclaim. Others who were active in art promotion included the Tullamore Lions Club with their seven or eight art auctions from the 1990s bringing affordable art (mostly) to keen buyers.
All the while Oliver Connolly kept the flag flying for art teaching and encouraged many others to come forward. For many of Oliver’s students it was fun, therapeutic and inspirational. Now superb and professional venues are available for visiting and local artists in Birr and in Tullamore and we can expect the same in Edenderry when the new community library is completed. Oliver has largely retired since the Covid shutdown of 2020-21 but his son Kevin has inherited the gene and we can expect to hear more
The Mallet Tavern, Kilbride Street, Tullamore from A Walk through Tullamore. The last thatched house in Tullamore and one of less than 50 surviving in Offaly.
Diarmuid Byrne, a past pupil of Oliver Connolly writes:
It is more than thirty years ago, but I remember it well. Every Saturday I would arrive for class—two rows of wooden desks facing each other in a converted garage. I must have been seven or eight, but the group was mixed, with students right up into their late teens.
We would sit down as Oliver either brought out the piece we had been working on from the week before or introduced something new. Everyone had their own paints neatly lined up on the desks. He moved slowly around the room in quiet laps, leaning over each shoulder, offering advice and encouragement before moving on.
There was a door at the back, leading—so I always imagined—into his garden. We never saw that side, but I often wondered what was out there. Occasionally his wife would appear at the front door, her American accent ringing out as she called, “Oliver, phone call!”—this in the days before mobile phones. That was his cue to step away for a few minutes before returning to us.
What I remember most is his kindness. I wasn’t particularly gifted at art, but Oliver was patient, and I always felt happy walking through that door each week.
Coming next Mrs B. Kennedy the founder of the ‘local art school’ in Tullamore.
This series is supported by Offaly County Council’s Creative Ireland community grant programme 2025-2027.
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