The operations are located a few kilometres apart, in the townlands of Cill Rialaigh and Dún Geágaín within the broad area of Ballinskelligs, on Bolus Head, County Kerry, Ireland.
The first stage of what became a multi-phase project was the Cill Rialaig Artist Retreat, founded by Noelle Campbell-Sharp, a former magazine publisher also active on Dublin's social scene.
Campbell-Sharp, who had a holiday home in the area,[2] was aware of a ruined 18th century village on Bolus Head on the Iveragh Peninsula in western County Kerry, which was threatened by a potential road-widening scheme, and proposed its reconstruction and dedication as a retreat for creative workers, including painters, photographers, composers and writers, from Ireland or elsewhere, to spend some quiet time in which to continue, or refresh, their work.
[12] The conversation house and library was dedicated by President of Ireland Mary McAleese in 2008, to the memory of historic local storyteller (seannachai) Sean O'Connaill.
It is the policy of the project to offer its accommodation free of charge, except for a contribution to utility costs; guests buy their own food, and, if wished, solid fuel for the cottage furnaces.
[13] As of 2019, more than 5,000 residencies have been hosted, with artists coming from Ireland, the UK, Russia and other European countries, Japan, Korea, China, the US, Canada and Mexico, India, Australia and New Zealand.
[1] In 2014, a whole team of Argentine artists (made up of painters, writers and musicians) landed in Bolus Head and stayed in August, marking the first time all members came from the same country.
The first of these, on St. Stephen's Green, was dedicated to work from Cill Rialaig, and was opened by the Tánaiste Dick Spring, with the Ambassador of the US, Jean Kennedy Smith in attendance.
For a period the Urban Retreat Art Gallery on Hanover Quay, by Grand Canal Dock, opened 2006, also assisted, with more experimental collections.
[17] Branded specifically with the link to Cill Rialaig, Urban Retreat hosted many exhibitions, with one opening, for Gemma Billington, attended by Niall Quinn and Kate Middleton.