About the Artist…

Originally from Donegal, Irish artist and poet Maria Noonan McDermott now lives and works from her studio in Kinlough, Co. Leitrim.

Heavily influenced by the impressionist movement, her work focuses on the study of light and form in Irish landscapes. With a love of folklore and story-telling, Noonan McDermott's influences lie in rural Ireland, it is in these magical places that share a colloquial history where stories and the people are often etched into the landscape.

I began my artistic career in Dublin in 1985 and qualified in Fashion and Design. I returned to college and completed a certificate in visual education before continuing on to study Fine Art. In the year 1990, I had my first solo exhibition of paintings. setting me on a path that now spans almost four decades.

My work is deeply influenced by a connection to the natural world, especially the rugged beauty of the Irish landscape with its ever-shifting skies and dramatic seas. I’m equally drawn to the people rooted in this land, bound by a shared kinship with their poetry, stories and soulful lyrics.

I've always been in awe of the storyteller, those gifted people who so effortlessly draw us into their imagined worlds, who submerge you so deeply, you cry, laugh and often seethe with anger and frustration. To me, this is true magic, possessing the rare skill of creating something from nothing, evoking such passion and emotion.

Growing up I found words didn't come so easily to me, art and writing became my outlet. I was transformed into the 'Cailleach Feasa', the storyteller. I recorded and recollected all the tales from times gone by, breathing life back into places and quirky characters I met along the way.

I was raised in a small village in Donegal and like most small communities in Ireland, it was filled with the most amazing characters.

As a child, my head was filled with fantastical stories told and dramatised by neighbours and family, the gatekeepers of local history. These tales, were, of course, exaggerated and embellished with such fun and gusto, like only true Irish seanchai can, that I couldn't help growing up with a great love of the people around me and all their fascinating antics.

In my work, I narrate the stories with colour and humour as over the years they've formed and shaped in my memory.

My paintings become the text and you the reader and as the reader, you are challenged to participate and forge your own journey, enabling the story to live all over again!

This attachment is ingrained in my work and I strive to bring forth its warmth in the most honest and pure way I know how.

Maria Noonan-McDermott CV In Brief...

29 solo exhibitions and participated in numerous group exhibitions both nationally and internationally.

  • Recent notable developments include my touring solo exhibition 'Time-Lapse' (2022–2024), which has been showcased at Art Centres and Art Galleries throughout Ireland. This exhibition was supported by grants from the Irish Hospice Foundation, Creative Ireland Programme and County Council Arts Bursaries.

  • Granted a residency at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre, September 2025, through Leitrim County Council’s Individual Artists Bursary Award.

  • My painting ‘The Healing Land’ was selected alongside 100 female artists for BLOODROOT Exhibition in Pulchri Studio, The Hague, The Netherlands with Hamilton Gallery, Sligo in partnership with The Embassy of Ireland. (January/February 2025) The inaugural St. Brigid’s exhibition is themed on poetry by Annemarie Ni Churreain.

  • My poem, ‘The Empty Chair’ has been selected for inclusion in ‘Washing Windows V’, an anthology of Irish Women Writers, published by Arlen House in Dublin.

  • Shortlist for the John Richardson French Residency Award (2025) for my painting ‘The Promise’.

  • Awarded a two weeks residency at Inishowen Artists Retreat and Studio for 2026 as part of the A5 Winter International at Echo Echo Dance Theatre Company, Derry – Londonderry, in partnership with Artlink Fort Dunree.

  • My painting, ‘shared Histories’ was selected for ‘Europe in the Heart of Ireland’ exhibition for its inaugural showing in the new Europa Gallery in Dublin and subsequently in Hamilton Gallery, Sligo.

  • I am privileged and honoured to have been officially awarded full membership of the Ulster Society of Women Artists (USWA) in 2024.

  • My painting 'Silent Requiem' was shortlisted for the John Richardson French Residency Award and is now part of the public collection of the Fermanagh and Omagh District Council.

  • My practice intertwines visual art with literature and poetry. I am a contributing poet to the 'Washing Windows' Poetry Collection published by Arlen House and I was honoured to read at the launch events hosted by the Department of Foreign Affairs in Belfast.

  • Invited Artist with Hamilton Gallery, Sligo creating and exhibiting work inspired by Irish literary figures and themes. Local and International touring in association with the Embassy of Ireland and supported by the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs.

  • I have been actively involved in community and cultural events, curating and hosting the inaugural ‘Féile na mBan’ art and poetry event in County Donegal as part of St. Brigid's Day celebrations. This is a three day event incorporating a schedule of exhibitions and workshops. The event has become an annual festival and I will be leading the team again for the 2025 events.

  • Summer 2023, Art Facilitator, Commissioned to deliver artistic sessions for persons residing in Ballyshannon Community Nursing Unit, culminating in a finished artwork and book. The Get Crafty Programme, is run by the Donegal County Council and Derry City and Strabane District Council and supported by the Creative Ireland Fund, 2023.

  • Support from Leitrim County Council through the Artists Bursary Award.

  • My work has been chosen as covers for poetry collections by Kevin McManus, John Noonan and Una Ni Cheallaigh and has been featured in The Irish Country Magazine with Missy Gray Interior Design company.

  • I had the honour of having my poem, 'Winter Tapestry' selected by Alan Hayes and co-editor Nuala O’Conor, to be included in - Washing Windows III: Irish Women Write Poetry published by Arlen House on May 1st 2023 and I was asked to read at the launch in the Department of Foreign Affairs at the Irish Secretariat in Belfast.

  • Invitation by the Hamilton Gallery, Sligo to create an unique painting in response to the suite of poems “Meditations in Time of Civil War” which Yeats wrote in 1921. my painting, ‘An Talamh mo Bhaile’ will be showing in ‘Ancestral Houses, W B Yeats Inspired Exhibition’ that opens in Beijing in association with the Embassy of Ireland to China, Hong Kong VA Galleries and LolliGo Art Space.

Awards

Awarded Residency at The Tyrone Guthrie Centre, 2025

Leitrim County Council Individual Artists Bursary Programme Award, 2024, 2021

Two weeks Residency Award 2024 at Inishowen Artists Retreat in partnership with Artlink Fort Dunree, Residency 2026

Awarded full membership of the Ulster Society Of Women Artists, USWA, 2024

Donegal County Council Artists Bursary, 2022/2023

Seed Grant Award, The Irish Hospice Foundation in Association with Creative Ireland, 2021

Membership

  • Visual Artists Ireland Professional member.

  • USWA Member, The Ulster Society of Woman Artists, Professional member.

  • Solas Art Gallery, Island Theatre, Ballinamore, Co. Leitrim.

  • Artlink, Fort Dunree, Buncrana, Co. Donegal.

  • Cnoc Bui Art Centre, Union Hall, West Cork.

  • Creative Frame Member, Leitrim Professional Development Network.