Eveline: An Irish Heroine is a work that links Derby Heritage Mill sites with The University of Derby, the Royal School for The Deaf Derby, and the human stories of two inspiring local women.

Eveline came from Dublin as a young woman, with a whole group of young Irish women, in head-scarfs, looking for work at Britannia Mill, a textile mill in Derby's West End. The mill itself has a heritage that goes back to the Domesday book under the entry Markeaton Mill. Since its ancient lineage, it has been a water-powered corn mill, rebuilt in 1818-19 as a paint works, and rebuilt again in 1912 as a textile mill, not water-driven, and was renamed Britannia Mill.

Britannia Mill, along with the new Markeaton Street campus, is now part of the University of Derby, thronged with School of Arts students, doing over 30 courses in: art, design, media, technology, performing arts, and creative expressive therapies.

Eveline sadly lost her husband in his early 40s and was the sole parent and breadwinner for her little family. Her daughter was born profoundly deaf and was educated just behind the Britannia Mill site, at The Royal School for the Deaf Derby. Despite facing barriers due to her deafness, and being a first language user of British Sign Language, Eveline's daughter, as a mature student, was granted a place at Britannia Mill as a Fine Art undergraduate, and emerged with a First Class degree.

During her degree Eveline's daughter was a carer for her elderly mother, giving the same loving and beautiful care that she had received as a child. As an artist, she found it most poignant climbing the old back stairs to her lectures and seminars, which at that time were still worn stone steps, carved by the passing of many feet over 100 years. The artist literally walked in her mother's footsteps, treading, in the 21st century, where the young women from Dublin in their head-scarfs had clattered up and down the same steps, as mill workers, years before.

Please note the original painting is available to purchase through this website, or you may contact the artist direct if you wish to discuss making an offer.