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BethAnn Roch

The Sitter

'Studio with figure' shows the artist’s wife, BethAnn, sitting in the studio at Bagenalstown, Co Carlow. She is reading a report about VTEC, a group of toxin producing bacteria which can cause severe gastrointestinal and life threatening illness. In Ireland VTEC infections are mainly associated with contaminated drinking water. BethAnn is a Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health Medicine, RCPI.

BethAnn (Elizabeth Ann Roch) was born in Somerset, England and graduated in medicine from Queen’s University Belfast in 1979. After a period in general practice she worked as a Medical Officer in the community in Co Donegal where responsibilities included infectious disease, immunisations, allowances, child health and protection, and agency work on behalf of the local authority. She obtained a Masters in Public Health from University College Dublin in 1993 and moved to Kilkenny as a Specialist in Public Health Medicine in 2000. Her areas of special interest included infectious disease, environmental issues, Medical Assessment Units, home births and congenital anomalies. She represented the HSE on various regional and national multidisciplinary and multiagency groups concerned with the provision of safe drinking water.

During the COVID pandemic BethAnn returned to work as a Specialist in Public Health Medicine providing support for HSE Contact Management Programme, particularly concerned with travel and North/South links.

Prior to studying medicine BethAnn obtained a Masters in Social Anthropology from Edinburgh University (1970) and, later, a doctorate from Queen’s University Belfast (1981). Following retirement in 2010 she co-founded the Irish Medical Anthropology Network.

The Artist

Born 1939 in London, Stephen McKenna studied at the Slade School of Art. From 1971 until 1999 he lived and worked in Ireland, Germany, Belgium and Italy before settling in County Carlow. He was President of the Royal Hibernian Academy from 2005 until 2009 and a member of Aosdána.

Stephen McKenna’s works have been exhibited widely in Ireland, other European countries, USA and China. He was short listed for the Turner Prize in 1986. He published numerous articles on art, and in 1997 curated The Pursuit of Painting exhibition at the Irish Museum of Modern Art. His work is held in major public collections in Ireland, England and other European countries.

Following Stephen’s death in 2017, his archives and library were donated to the National Irish Visual Arts Library and to the National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin. His work is represented by Kerlin Gallery, Dublin.