![\"Long-standing](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/IR2K3PN3QJADNDQ3HLXCLJG4CI.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"‘You](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/QPPJNQM455HWNOC42J3EKYWQD4.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cI know I\u2019ve said it before and it\u2019s a bit of a clich\u00e9, but it is definitely a dream come true.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have to just make sure I do it justice. So that\u2019s the terrifying bit. Everything else is wonderful.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Artist](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/K26Y6MSWCBEXTFGXJOGLN5T5LY.jpg\")
Co Down artist Kathryn Callaghan recently took over Yard Gallery in Holywood after more than 20 years under the same ownership. PICTURE: BRIAN LINCOLN <\/p>\n
The gallery opened its doors in 2005 alongside its sister business Coffee Yard, which is now run by Jim and Nicki\u2019s sons, Chris and Richard.<\/p>\n
Over the past two decades, it has become a familiar fixture in Holywood, bringing together art, food and coffee in a relaxed setting.<\/p>\n
Kathryn is keen to preserve the ethos the family has built during that time, not least because of her own long-standing connection to the gallery.<\/p>\n
Yard was one of the first galleries to take a chance on her work when she was still finding her feet as a professional artist.<\/p>\n
\u201cI came in with my work unframed and unsure,\u201d she recalls.<\/p>\n
\u201cJim said, \u2018Yeah, do you know what? Bring those pieces back here framed. I\u2019m going to put them on the wall.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cWe agreed a price and they sold literally within a couple of days.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo he asked for some more and it just snowballed from there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Read more: \u2018The wee shop that had everything\u2019: Traditional Belfast haberdashery to close its doors after 41 years<\/a><\/p>\n Fourteen years later, the offer to become the gallery\u2019s next owner came just as unexpectedly, with Kathryn browsing in Marks & Spencer when Jim called.<\/p>\n \u201cHe phoned me and just said, \u2018Would you like to take this over as I step back and retire?\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cAnd I was just like, \u2018What? Me? Really?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n After meeting to discuss the details and working through the legal process, Kathryn officially took over the business just four weeks ago.<\/p>\n Now, having experienced first-hand what an early opportunity can mean to an artist, she hopes to offer the same support to others.<\/p>\n \u201cTo be able to give other artists what I was given 14 years ago is incredible,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are so many things that, like in any industry, you don\u2019t know until you\u2019re told or until someone explains what works and what\u2019s needed.<\/p>\n \u201cSo to be able to impart that knowledge is fabulous.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are so many fantastic, incredibly talented artists. It\u2019s just giving them an opportunity to showcase their work.\u201d<\/p>\n While much of what has made Yard successful will remain unchanged, Kathryn also has plans to develop the gallery and make the creative process itself more accessible.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d like to break down the barriers even further by welcoming people upstairs to come and watch art being made, to listen to talks, to watch demos and to ask questions,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n The gallery\u2019s distinctive multi-level building was redesigned by the architects who would later design Belfast\u2019s MAC, and Kathryn is now planning to make greater use of its upstairs space.<\/p>\n A new studio room is being created alongside an exhibition space which she hopes will host around five or six exhibitions each year.<\/p>\n Read more: Inside Belfast-based artist\u2019s 100-hour mural capturing the spirit of the Fleadh<\/a><\/p>\n And among the first exhibitions Kathryn will oversee in her new role is one particularly close to home – her own.<\/p>\n Kathryn\u2019s new Ireland Collection has been more than a year in the making, beginning with a road trip she and her partner took in a rented campervan in June 2025.<\/p>\n Starting in Kinsale, they travelled around the coast towards Donegal, with Kathryn later revisiting other locations which would eventually feed into a body of 27 paintings.<\/p>\n \u201cEssentially, it\u2019s about the essence of Ireland, well, through my eyes anyway, and how I would like to express that,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s the energy, really, and the feeling and the spirit of Ireland.\u201d<\/p>\n Created using Kathryn\u2019s distinctive poured-ink technique, each piece is rooted less in creating an exact visual representation of a place and more in capturing the memory or feeling it leaves behind.<\/p>\n \u201cI would love the collection to evoke people\u2019s own memories and experiences of Ireland,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe sitting in the pub, listening to music and how that made them feel.<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe it\u2019s sipping on a pint of Guinness, splitting the G and throwing back some oysters. Or maybe it\u2019s when you\u2019re walking along the hedgerows and you see the bees buzzing around.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just those snippets that get ingrained into your mind and become a memory or a feeling, just something that stays there.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s what it\u2019s trying to capture.\u201d<\/p>\n Rather than using a traditional paintbrush, Kathryn pours ink from a height, allowing gravity and a degree of unpredictability to influence the finished work.<\/p>\n For the artist, that lack of complete control mirrors the fleeting experiences she is attempting to capture.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you relinquish that control and you allow gravity to take its place and help form the mark, there\u2019s something slightly unplanned, just as your day goes,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t possibly plan everything.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t plan the memory or the thing that you see or the thing that you experience. It\u2019s just the moment as it happens.<\/p>\n![\"Artist](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/TVNKMVDHOJD3RNROPMF2KVVU7Q.jpg\")
Kathryn Callaghan at Yard Gallery, one of the first galleries to champion her work when she was starting out as a professional artist. PICTURE: BRIAN LINCOLN <\/p>\n![\"Artist](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/SF3ZV5VFERBRJMTINISMKQBIPI.jpg\")
Kathryn says her Ireland Collection is designed to capture the energy, feeling and spirit of the island rather than create exact visual representations. PICTURE: BRIAN LINCOLN <\/p>\n![\"Artist](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/MXYKOSMQD5FVREVPMGXILEFFKY.jpg\")
Kathryn hopes to support emerging artists through Yard Gallery after experiencing first-hand the impact an early opportunity can have on a career. PICTURE: BRIAN LINCOLN <\/p>\n![\"Artist](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/HTEVJURXSNCA5M77SRCC6U2PO4.jpg\")
Kathryn\u2019s new Ireland Collection features 27 works inspired by a road trip around the island and her own memories and experiences of Ireland. PICTURE: BRIAN LINCOLN <\/p>\n![\"Artist](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/HDD3AHBRSBEATMGGHCUCG4FTDQ.jpg\")
Kathryn Callaghan\u2019s Ireland Collection will be on display at Yard Gallery in Holywood from August 15 until September 12. PICTURE: BRIAN LINCOLN <\/p>\n
![\"Artist](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/6IITFJJT6JCSBMWPDWQUI37ZCE.jpg\")
The artist uses a distinctive poured-ink technique, allowing gravity and an element of unpredictability to help shape each piece. PICTURE: BRIAN LINCOLN <\/p>\n