Local Faces: Sally Ryan-Graver

THIS week, we’re honoured to feature Sally Ryan-Graver who is a fantastically talented Visual Media Artist based here in our own Rathcoole, writes Ken Doyle.

Sally is a lady dedicated to her art, so much so that we nearly didn’t get to talk to her at all.

What happened was, your humble correspondent called Sally on a recent Wednesday and we agreed to do the interview that Friday.

So far so good.

That Wednesday night though, was one of the nights when the spectacular Aurora Borealis made one of its rare visits to Irish skies.

Sally, ever the opportunist, took herself up to the attic to get the best view possible of the aforementioned Northern Lights.

What followed was an episode worthy of the Keystone Cops.

In her rush to get the perfect shot, Sally stuck her arm out of the skylight window and duly dropped her phone, sending it sliding down the roof and into the guttering.

Sadly, like most of us, her phone is an absolutely essential part of her life so the rescue effort then began.

At first the thing couldn’t be found and eventually, the ever resourceful citizens of Rathcoole got a crew together and through a combination of ladders, searchlights and I think at one stage even a helicopter, managed to retrieve it. Sally tells it better.

So we proceed, and when we finally got to talk I found out that Sally’s early years weren’t spent in the Rathcoole area.

“No, I’m originally from Montpelier Hill in Stoneybatter Dublin 7.

‘We actually lived in quite a historic building, Cambridge House which was built for the 2nd Duke of Cambridge in the mid 1800s.

‘By the time we moved in, it had been broken up into flats and I remember my mother being on the ball and as soon as one of our neighbours moved out, if they had a bigger flat, she’d speak to the Landlord and move us in.”

One of eight children born to Larry and Molly Ryan, Sally went to Stanhope Street School and remembers it fondly, particularly one Sr Stanislaus and the plays she put on every year.

It wasn’t until she Married her husband Neville that she moved to Rathcoole and that was in 1982. Together they raised three boys – Alan, Conor and David in a place which was then really a very small country village.

“Rathcoole was very much a one horse town when we moved there, but it’s always been a lovely place to live.

‘We almost had the best of both worlds really, we were surrounded by nature but the Naas Road meant we had a direct connection to the city when we needed it.”

Sally’s working life began at ANCO, which was soon to become Fás and that’s where her love affair with visual media really began.

“At Fás I did a one year traineeship in the Audio/Visual department and went on to become a curriculum officer involved in Audio/Visual work.

‘This entailed taking photos and video of local initiatives in the area.

‘I really enjoyed it and Fás was great for me in the sense that through them, I could always keep up with new developments and technology in the A/V world.”

A few years in, Sally would be presented with an opportunity to expand on her skillset and qualifications.

“Fás started to get involved with University College Galway in distance learning and through them, I obtained a degree in Teaching and Training which I was delighted to receive.

‘I’ve always believed in lifelong learning and the balance between my work and my studies at the time was perfect.

‘I was still determined to expand and learn more and more. It felt like a great start, but I knew there was a lot more to learn and I was determined to learn it.”

Sure enough, Sally then took evening classes at the National College of Art and Design on Thomas Street, soon emerging with a diploma in Art and Education.

“My family and all of the tutors at NCAD were really supportive of the idea of me following my artistic dreams so I went back and got my degree in Fine Art Media, which I got in 2016.” Sally would be too modest to tell you that it was a first-class honours degree, luckily I’m not.

Just to put the icing on the cake, Sally then got her Masters in Fine Art, again from NCAD.

Along the way to all of these achievements, Sally was participating in many prestigious exhibitions and having her work admired by hundreds upon hundreds of people.

Along with her passion for art, Sally is also very devoted to the natural world and the preservation of the world in the wider sense.

So much so, that she embarked on an expedition to the Arctic Circle to document the damage done by climate change and upon her return, gave a presentation to the Physics Department at UCD on the subject.

When it came to applying her skills to her local area, it was actually her other half Neville who really got the ball rolling.

“Well Neville had got involved with the Four Districts Woodland Group and he enlisted me to take some photos.

‘I eventually got more involved and through the group, I get to contribute to the fine work of a great group of people.

‘Everyone’s very passionate about the ecology of our area and they all bring a different set of skills to the party.

‘For my part, I record things with my camera and now I produce a calendar every year to raise funds for the group’s efforts.

‘We often get expert guest speakers in to talk about conservation and biodiversity.

‘There are actually over 10,000 trees in our woodland so it’s an important project for all of us.”

Then there’s the Rathcoole Camera Club which Sally set up in 2019 along with local like-minded people PJ Manning, Ian Campbell and Paul Roche.

There’s a story Sally can relate about a slightly disasterous trip the Camera Club took to the Saltee Islands off the Wexford coast involving a fishing trawler, a rubber dinghy and a very wet wade to the islands themselves.

The club survived this though and is still going strong.

They meet at the Community Centre in Rathcoole every fortnight.

Perhaps Sally’s biggest passion currently is the revived Old Courthouse which is now a vibrant and growing arts centre for Rathcoole.

Sally is the chairperson of the Old Courthouse Committee and she speaks enthusiastically about the various events and artists which have been hosted by the facility.

There is plenty in the pipeline for the coming year at the Old Courthouse and you’ll have to keep an eye on The Echo for updates as Sally can’t really confirm anything yet.

Sally is an absolute dynamo and a truly dedicated member of the Rathcoole family.

She loves the place and credits it with a lot of inspiration in her work, which is truly extraordinary.

Don’t just take my word for it, check it out for yourself on her website Sallyryangraver.com

Thank God she found that phone.