Kenneth King, born in Dublin, Ireland (1939 - 2019) was a notable international marine artist who was a

Chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...

in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

before he became a full-time artist. King's studio, "Straid Studio-Gallery", is in

Glencolmcille ''Gleann Cholm Cille'', anglicised as Glencolumbkille or Glencolmcille, is a small district on the Atlantic coast of southwest County Donegal in Ulster, the northern province in Ireland. Named after Saint Colm Cille (Columba), it is also a civ ...

, a

Gaeltacht ( , , ) are the districts of Ireland, individually or collectively, where the Irish government recognises that the Irish language is the predominant vernacular, or language of the home. The ''Gaeltacht'' districts were first officially recog ...

or Irish language speaking region in

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconne ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. King's father was Richard King, best known for his designs of

Irish postage stamps The postage stamps of Ireland are issued by the postal operator of the independent Irish state. Ireland was part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland when the world's first postage stamps were issued in 1840. These stamps, and ...

and his work in

stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

. King specialises in depicting the naval and merchant shipping of Ireland, as well as

seascape A seascape is a photograph, painting, or other work of art which depicts the sea, in other words an example of marine art. The word originated as a formation from landscape, which was first used of images of land in art. By a similar devel ...

s of the country's coastline and

lighthouses A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mark ...

. He has been commissioned by the

Royal National Lifeboat Institution The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is the largest charity that saves lives at sea around the coasts of the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man, as well as on some inland waterways. It i ...

Irish Shipping Irish Shipping Limited was an Irish state-owned deep sea shipping company, formed during World War II for the purpose of supplying the country's import needs. Its ships were usually named after trees. Its contribution to Irish neutrality was re ...

An Post (; literally 'The Post') is the state-owned provider of postal services in Ireland. An Post provides a "universal postal service" to all parts of the country as a member of the Universal Postal Union. Services provided include letter post, p ...

Bord Iascaigh Mhara Bord Iascaigh Mhara (; meaning "Sea Fish Board" or "Irish Sea Fisheries Board"; BIM) is the agency of the Irish state with responsibility for developing the Irish marine fishing and aquaculture industries. Originally established under the Sea ...

, the

Maritime Institute of Ireland The Maritime Institute of Ireland (MII) was founded in 1941, at a time when World War II was raging and many seamen were in great peril of either being severely injured or losing their lives. Ireland, being an island nation, was dependent on the se ...

and the

Office of Public Works The Office of Public Works (OPW) ( ga, Oifig na nOibreacha Poiblí) (legally the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland) is a major Irish Government agency, which manages most of the Irish State's property portfolio, including hundreds of ow ...

. The

National Maritime Museum of Ireland The National Maritime Museum of Ireland ( ga, Músaem Mhuirí Náisiúnta na hÉireann) opened in 1978 in the former Mariners' Church in Moran Park, located between the seafront and the centre of Dún Laoghaire town, southeast of Dublin city. ...

has paintings, by Kenneth King, of all the Irish ships lost during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Irish Shipping had commissioned King to paint pictures of all their ships. When Irish Shipping was

liquidated Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a company is brought to an end in Canada, United Kingdom, United States, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, and many other countries. The assets and property of the company are redistrib ...

, the receiver sold the collection at auction. The Maritime Institute of Ireland acquired some of the paintings; they concentrated on ships lost during World War II. Later, at the instigation of Des Brannigan, then President of the Institution, the Institute commissioned King to paint pictures of the other Irish Ships lost during the war. This collection is on display in the National Maritime Museum of Ireland. The collection lacks one image: the ''Naomh Garbhan'' which hit a

mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging * Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun ...

off the

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

coast and sank with the loss of three lives on 2 May 1945. __NOTOC__

Exhibitions

Recent exhibitions by King include: *2014 'Vitality of the Sea' exhibition of marine oils, Sirius Arts Centre, Cobh, Co. Cork. *2013 'Kenneth King: Saol agus Saothar' - An Gailearaí, Na Doirí Beaga, Co Dhún na nGall. *2012 'Bound for Blue Water' - an exhibition of marine oils, Rosses Point, Co. Sligo.

Bibliography

Kenneth King, Life and Works by Marianne O'Kane Boal

References

External links

*
Local news article
for Kenneth King in the Glencolmcille community website. {{DEFAULTSORT:King, Kenneth Marine artists Artists from Dublin (city) Year of birth missing (living people)