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Rear Admiral Richard Brydges Beechey HRHA (1808-1895) South Stack Lighthouse Holyhead (1872) oil on canvas signed 'Beechey 1872' lower right and titled verso h:92  w:137.30 cm. Provenance: Gorry Gallery, Dublin; Private Collection Exhibited: Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin 1872, no.41; Royal Academy, London 1872, no.1039; Gorry Gallery, Dublin 1st-19th November 2021, no.15 With his customary penchant for stormy sea scenes, Beechey has depicted the South Stack Lighthouse, illuminated by winter sunlight, and silhouetted against dark scudding rainclouds. Seagulls hover over white-capped waves, while a line of cormorants take flight, heading towards the rocky shore. To the right of the lighthouse, a suspension bridge connects South Stack to Holy Island (Holyhead). Tiny figures are visible on the suspension bridge, watching the progress of a three-masted barque, that struggles against wind and tide, endeavouring to steer clear of the rocky coastline. Visible on the mountain side is a nineteenth century castellated structure; above that can be seen roads and walls, and beyond that again, the dark mountain top, shrouded in white clouds. Waves crash against the cliffs, and a section of ship's mast floats in the foreground. The South Stack lighthouse was built by Trinity House in 1809, as a result of reports compiled by Capt. Hugh Evans, and is located on a small island to the west of Holy Island in Anglesea. The elegant suspension bridge depicted in Beechey's painting was constructed in 1828, but has since been replaced by a new bridge. Beechey's painting includes cormorants and gulls, and the area is today still famous for its birdlife. Born in London in 1808, Richard Brydges Beechey was a naval officer who became one of Ireland's most accomplished marine painters. After training at the Royal Naval College in Portsmouth, he was stationed in the West Indies and in 1825 joined HMS Blossom, serving in the Pacific under his older brother, the hydrographer Frederick William Beechey. During this time Beechey landed on Pitcairn Island, where he sketched John Adams, the last surviving mutineer from HMS Bounty. His 1834 painting H. M. Fisgard Weathering the Rocks off Ushant, exhibited at the Gorry Gallery in 2010, depicts a naval vessel in heavy seas, with rocks and a headland in the distance. In 1835 Beechey was transferred to the Admiralty Survey of Ireland, and his surveying of Lough Erne, along with Lieut. James Woolfe, marked the beginning of years of creating detailed charts of the coast and rivers of Ireland. Throughout these years, he painted consistently, exhibiting both at the Royal Academy and the Royal Hibernian Academy. Promoted in 1840 to the rank of Commander, he continued to paint, many of his canvases depicting Irish scenes. At the British Institution in 1858, he showed Hooker, off Cork Harbour. He first exhibited at the RHA in 1842, where he showed three works, including The Total Loss of the "Intrinsic" of Liverpool in 1836, but did not show at the Academy in Dublin again until 1861. After retiring from the Navy in 1864, with the rank of Admiral, Beechey settled for a time at Monkstown, Co. Dublin, and four years later was elected HRHA. He later moved back to England, where he continued to paint Irish maritime scenes. There are works by Beechey in collections in Ireland and abroad. His Mail Boat "Connaught" is in the National Gallery of Ireland, while a view of the Blasket Islands is in the Royal St. George Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire, along with a panoramic view of Kingstown Harbour. Peter Murray, March 2023