Included in the main history of the Newlyn Art Gallery edited by Hardie in 1995, to celebrate the centennial of the institution presented to the artists in 1895 by John Passmore-Edward, are extracts and photographs provided by Sheelagh O'Donnell from her MA thesis at Falmouth College of Art (pp 26-7). This was a valuable addition to the research necessary to bring together a well-rounded history of this long-standing public art gallery.

Always a stalwart supporter of NAG and the NSA, Sheelagh was awarded a solo exhibition of her work in the summer of 1981. Then in 1988 she became the organiser for 'Craft Work', a show at NAG to highlight the wide ranging talented craftsmen and women living and working in the south-west of Britain.

Sheelagh was married to the painter Michael O'DONNELL, but the two parted, and for some years Sheelagh lived and worked in Bath, Somerset where she also ran an art gallery.  She has now returned to West Cornwall and lives near Ludgvan.