Inspiring Ada (88) hosts painting exhibition Lovestory in library

ADA O’Loughlin is an 88-year-old artist who has been living in Tallaght for the last two years. She has been painting for many years and draws inspiration from the Irish landscape.

Such inspiration includes the uplands of Wicklow, the lakes at Blessington, the drumlins of Co Monaghan, the wild beauty of Galway and Donegal, and the mountain ranges of Kerry.

Her latest exhibition in Tallaght Library, ‘LOVESTORY’, is a love letter to the Irish landscape.

She has had exhibitions over the years, the last one at Signal Arts Centre in Bray in 2018.  The work in this current exhibition represents what she has been doing since then.

The exhibition launched on Tuesday, December 2, with Rosaleen Dwyer, Heritage Officer for South Dublin County Council, opening the show and saying a few words on the night.

The exhibition will continue until January 5, 2026, on display in Tallaght Library; this week, we sat down with Ada to discuss it.

Tell us about how you take inspiration from the Irish landscape to make your art.

I was brought up in rural Yorkshire, surrounded by farmland and not too far from the dales.

When I moved to Ireland with my Irish husband in 1961, the landscape of Wicklow reminded me of home.

We always went west for summer holidays, bringing the four children to Kerry, Donegal or Connemara, camping or caravanning.

When the children were a little older, I started to paint on a 1×1 foot pull-out kitchen table – nothing so fancy as a studio!

Holidays were opportunities to sketch the landscape, sketches that were brought home to keep the details fresh in my mind for painting.

I still use these old sketches from time to time. I just loved the soft beauty of the Dingle Peninsula, the rugged terrain of northwest Donegal and Connemara, and the soft greens of Wicklow.

My style then was impressionism, with mist featuring in many paintings.

Who came up with the idea for the exhibition; did you propose it, or was it suggested to you?

I had been saying to my daughter Kathrine that I would like to have an exhibition, as I had many paintings.

I wanted to organise them, select the best ones, have them framed and show them.

She recommended that I try the County Library in Tallaght, as it is now my local library, has a lovely gallery space and is accessible for me, so we wrote an email.

Michael Larkin at the library came back to say that December was available.

My daughter brought some of my work to show him and arranged with Michael the details for hanging the exhibition and the launch.

When Kathrine and I were looking through my many paintings, she said that this work is like a love letter to the Irish landscape, so the title ‘Lovestory’ was chosen!

How did you feel leaving oil paint behind and using pastel and gouache?

I adore oil paint, the way it blends, and the smell of it – when I first started painting, I almost felt I could eat it!

It has been difficult to leave it behind, and I would dearly love to be able to use it again.

However, I was a pretty messy painter, and the oil paint would always end up everywhere.

So in my room in Kiltipper, I have limited space and try to keep my work area as clean as possible.

From this point of view, using pastels and water-based gouache is easier.

The people at Kiltipper are very interested in what I do and always encouraging and supportive.

I also have a beautiful view of the hills from my window, which I’m very grateful for.

I’m so glad I can continue my creative work at my age.

I do have arthritis in my hands, and my eyesight is not as good as it used to be, but I do paint most days.

This will be your first exhibition in 7 years; are you nervous?

Am I nervous? Absolutely! It is like baring your soul when an artist shows their work to the world.

I think if I had another 100 exhibitions, I would still be nervous.

I really hope that people will identify with the landscapes and the atmosphere of the places I try to capture.

I have nieces and nephews coming from Wales and Northern Ireland, as well as friends and family for the launch, and I’m looking forward (nervously) to showing them what I have been working on.

I hope that people who come to the library will enjoy viewing the paintings and that they might evoke memories of happy times for them.

What are your plans for 2026?

Well, in January I will be making 3 pieces for the Jack & Jill Foundation fundraiser, Incognito, which I have been doing for about 5 or 6 years now.

I really enjoy this, and it’s a great charity.

There’s an online sale of standard postcard-sized paintings, but you don’t know the artist until you buy.

You might get my piece, or even possibly a piece by Bono, who has participated in the past – it’s great fun.

After that I will keep painting every day and possibly consider having another exhibition in a year or so – I’m open to offers!

Who would you like to thank?

I would like to thank the County Library in Tallaght for giving me this opportunity to show my work in their lovely gallery space.

I would also like to thank Rosaleen Dwyer, the Heritage Officer for South Dublin County Council, who has very kindly agreed to open the exhibition and say a few words on the night.

Rosaleen took the time to meet with me and my daughter at Rua Red to have a chat about my work, for which I was very grateful.

I would also like to thank all the people at Kiltipper Woods Care Centre for accommodating my work, always encouraging me and being interested in what I’m doing.

I’d like to thank my framer, Pat Mulvany in Kingswood, for doing such a great job.

Then of course I’d like to thank my family, who have helped me get this exhibition off the ground, for getting paintings framed, for helping me choose titles for more than 35 pieces, labelling them, etc., etc.

A lot of work goes into an exhibition, even after all the painting is done!