Paul MacCormaic

Annie Murphy, Former Lover of Bishop Eamonn Casey, at her Home in California, 2023

Acrylic and oil on canvas | Unframed: 120 x 90 cm; Framed: 134 x 104 cm

‘Annie is part of a project called The Vanquished Writing History, a series of portraits of people who were overlooked, disbelieved or vilified, but who then told their own stories. Annie’s book Forbidden Fruit detailed her affair with Bishop Eamonn Casey and how she raised their son as a single mother. It caused a scandal, and Annie was accused of being a liar, most infamously in an interview with Gay Byrne on The Late Late Show in 1993. This portrait shows Annie, aged 74, relaxing in her garden. She has only the fondest memories of her time in Ireland.’ 

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