NEWPORT — Fran McCann runs an art school in the town of Gort, Ireland, but for the next two weeks he's painting murals of Irish countryside scenes for the Claddagh Irish Pub at Newport on the Levee.

Irish artist Fran McCann works on a mural of Kylemore Abbey at Connemara, which will decorate Claddagh Irish Pub at Newport on the Levee. (Patrick Reddy photo) | ZOOM |

        Working with his son, Brendan, 32, the 56-year-old Irish artist is creating about a half-dozen large murals and a map of Ireland to hang inside and outside the pub, which is scheduled to open at the end of February or early March.

        “This is my second trip to the U.S.,” Mr. McCann said as he worked Wednesday on a painting of the Kylemore Abbey at Connemara, the home of the nuns of the Order of St. Benedict. “I painted the murals for the Claddagh (pub) in Columbus.”

        Mr. McCann, who trained with famed Belfast artist John Luke, said he and Brendan, who assists his father in preparation work on the murals, are enjoying the Greater Cincinnati lifestyle.

        “There's a lot more to do here than in Columbus,” he said. “We went to Hap's Irish Pub (in Hyde Park) one night and another place where we heard some good bluegrass music.”

        Brendan McCann said working at Newport on the Levee has proven to be a better way to meet local people and make friends. “If you're on vacation, you talk to people briefly and probably never see them again,” he said. “Here, we see a lot of the same people every day and get to know them. It's been very enjoyable.”

        Mr. McCann, who said he regularly counts a number of Irish Americans among his students at the Gort School of Art, said he has had the desire to draw and paint “almost from when I was born, I think. As a young child, I thought the whole world could draw like I could. Then I found out it wasn't so.”

        In addition to the murals depicting scenic areas of Ireland, the Claddagh pub will be filled with furniture from the Emerald Isle.

        “The entire project is a matter of authenticity,” Claddagh owner Kevin Blair said.“It's very important to me and the company that we are able to call ourselves authentic, from the furniture to the light fixtures, down to the paintings and most importantly our recipes. In fact, half of the ownership as well as the half of the employees are Irish.”

        Mr. McCann and his son, who is on his first visit to the United States, expect to complete their work by the end of the month and return to Gort, where, Mr. McCann said, “I have to go right back to work with the school. My students are already asking when I'll be back.”
       

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