Tipperary artist donates over 100 paintings for charity auction in aid of injured jockeys

The Irish Injured Jockeys and The Killusty Pony Show recently held an exclusive art auction and exhibition which took place on Saturday October 11, at The Hotel Minella in Clonmel.

This highly anticipated event showcased an extraordinary collection of artworks from the equine world, providing an unparalleled opportunity for art enthusiasts and collectors to acquire exceptional pieces. The event featured works meticulously curated to highlight the creativity of Tipperary artist David Baird.

“My hope in this collection was to capture the essence of the character in the individual I painted caught in a moment, unaware, in their natural environment,” said David Baird when describing a past collection entitled “Here and There”, but it also would apply to the stunning portraits by David displayed and later sold at auction at the Hotel Minella on Saturday last in aid of Killusty Pony Show and the Irish Injured Jockeys Fund.

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All 137 paintings were very generously donated by David with full proceeds going to the two beneficiaries.

David said: "For the past five years, approximately 138 pieces have been tucked away at my home. Recently, as I browsed through them, I was pleasantly surprised and the thought of my paintings helping others brings me immense joy, which is why all proceeds will be shared between the Killusty Pony Show and the Irish Injured Jockeys.”

The subjects in these paintings being made up of characters, some renowned, all but a few caught at an equestrian activity, be it, an event, captured at a racecourse or at a show. One of the most detailed pieces however was of Ger Clancy, the vet in Carrick-on-Suir surrounded by four adoring looking dogs, one being the artists called Flossy, a cat with a bandaged paw and a hedgehog!

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The morning before was spent putting up easels of all sorts to exhibit the pieces, which were most kindly lent by different local art groups, institutes, schools and individuals.

On Saturday morning the paintings made their way to their viewing spots delivered in David's van. There we displayed them either side of the lovely light wide glass corridor leading all the way to the ballroom, where numbers 1 to 20 were placed, these were the paintings to be auctioned live on Saturday night.

Michael Ryan from Cashel was the auctioneer on the night and he was also responsible for setting up and running the online auction, which was launched on Friday September 12.

The event was organised over the past few months culminating in the event on Saturday night. Michael Higgins and his team of Alisha Mc Cormack and Nicole Murtagh from the Irish Injured Jockeys Fund, Hilary O’ Connor, Theresa Kinane, Nicola Everard and Pat Culligan Chairman of Killusty Pony Show were the group involved form the start and masses of research took place in the weeks before hand discovering who some of the characters were and trying to contact friends and family, as most of the images had been captured at events years ago.

Hilary, Theresa and Nicola have attended several race meetings in recent weeks researching and promoting the venture. On Saturday a collection of committed Killusty committee members were on hand to assist and make sure everything ran smoothly.

There was a great atmosphere in the room with approximately 150 people present with bids coming from those as well as on the phone and online. As always the Hotel Minella played their part really well with excellent food and refreshments and the venue looking fabulous.