Book on former Athy addict now set to go on exhibition

A POWERFUL new exhibition confronting addiction in small-town Ireland will launch at the Art House in Athy on Saturday (19 July) at 3.30pm, with acclaimed Athy photographer John Minihan.

This exhibition is ‘The Hawk Against the Dove’, and it reveals the deeply moving collaboration between Antoinette Foley and local store owner – and amateur photographer - James Mahon, which began life as a highly successful book launched in April, and now on its second print run.

Back in 2021 James became aware of Antoinette begging outside Aldi on the Monasterevin Road, and just asked if he could take her picture, and this continued until it was published as a 132-page hardback book three months ago.

This powerful collaborative photography exhibition offers an unflinching portrait of addiction, resilience, and redemption in rural Ireland.

Once associated primarily with urban centres, drug addiction has increasingly taken root in small towns and rural communities.

The Hawk Against the Dove traces this shift through the lived experience of Antoinette Foley, whose personal journey lays bare the often-invisible cost of substance abuse in towns like Athy.

Born into a Traveller family in Kilkenny , Antoinette’s life spirals following teenage love, heartbreak, and the trauma of family separation.

Her descent into addiction is chronicled with raw honesty, from the streets of Athy to the banks of the River Barrow.

Yet, at the heart of this story is not only pain, but a fragile, persistent hope – the memory of the girl she once was, and the future she still dares to imagine.

Blending documentary insight with poetic reflection, The Hawk Against the Dove is both a personal and political statement.

It confronts the weight of judgment placed on women, Travellers, and addicts, while affirming the power of storytelling as a path to healing and change.

This timely and resonant work invites audiences to bear witness – not only to struggle, but to survival.