ISLAND CITY
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ACCESS

Plan Your Visit

We look forward to welcoming you on the Island City Walking tour. We’ve taken every precaution to ensure your visit will be safe, straightforward and comfortable.

Click below to quickly jump to each section:

1. Pre-visit guides

2. Audio descriptions

3. Assisted listening equipment

4. NaviLens codes

5. ISL descriptions

In partnership with

ROUTE 1

ROUTE 1

ROUTE 1

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ROUTE 1

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ROUTE 1

Route 1 - Oliver Plunkett Street and Parnell Place Junction

Start – Oliver Plunkett Street and Parnell Place Junction
Sculpture 1 – Boom Nouveau by Forerunner
Sculpture 2 – The Face Cup by artist Fiona Mulholland
Sculpture 3 – Sentinels [flew through the ages in the shape of birds] by Niamh McCann
Sculpture 4 – Urban Mirror by plattenbaustudio
Sculpture 5 – Temporary Digital Projection
End Point – Grand Parade


View Route 1 Pre-visit Guide Document

ROUTE 2

ROUTE 2

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ROUTE 2

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ROUTE 2

Route 2 - Grand Parade

Start – Grand Parade
Sculpture 1 – Temporary Digital Projection
Sculpture 2 – Urban Mirror by plattenbaustudio
Sculpture 3 – Sentinels [flew through the ages in the shape of birds] by Niamh McCann
Sculpture 4 – The Face Cup by artist Fiona Mulholland
Sculpture 5 – Boom Nouveau by Forerunner
End Point – Oliver Plunkett Street and Plás Parnell Junction

ROUTE 3

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Route 3 - Coal Quay and Cornmarket Street Junction

Starting Point – Lavitt’s Quay and Cornmarket Street Junction
Sculpture 1 – Urban Mirror by plattenbaustudio
Sculpture 2 – Temporary Digital Projection
Sculpture 3 – Sentinels [flew through the ages in the shape of birds] by Niamh McCann
Sculpture 4 – The Face Cup by artist Fiona Mulholland
Sculpture 5 – Boom Nouveau by Forerunner
End Point – Oliver Plunkett Street and Plás Parnell Junction

AUDIO DESCRIPTIONS

AUDIO DESCRIPTIONS

AUDIO DESCRIPTIONS

AUDIO DESCRIPTIONS

AUDIO DESCRIPTIONS

AUDIO DESCRIPTIONS

AUDIO DESCRIPTIONS

AUDIO DESCRIPTIONS

AUDIO DESCRIPTIONS

Listen to an audio description about Boom Nouveau 02:04

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Sprouting up through the pale grey cut-stone pavement at the junction of Cook Street and Oliver Plunkett Street is Boom Nouveau. With a total height of over five and a half metres – taller than a double decker bus – this artwork is a streetlamp, a cluster of three poles at varying heights rising together, with each glass lamp pointing off in different directions. They stand like a clump of budding daffodils in a lively pedestrianised area of the city.

The stems of these three streetlamps are made from C-shaped steel bars welded together, and painted a mossy, forest green. A thin steel tube is fixed to the centre of each upright, painted a lighter mint green, a conduit for the electrical wiring for the lamps above. The combination of these natural green colours are reminiscent of the Art Nouveau colouring of the original signs for the Paris Métro.

Above our heads, at heights of 3.2 metres, 4.8 metres and 5.6 metres, are the three glass-covered lamps. They are attached to the central stem with brass plating – a kind of joint that angles the lamps’ heads outwards to cast their light more widely across the junction. The surface of these brass plates has been burnished so that they appear rough, and not so reflective. The hand-blown glass covers for the lamps are amber-coloured, giving the light they cast a warm yellow glow. As they are handmade, their surfaces are slightly different from one another, one may have a more rippled surface, and another a smoother casing.

The collaborative art practice known as Forerunner is comprised of Tom Watt, Tanad Aaron and Andreas Kindler von Knobloch.

Listen to an audio description about Sentinels 02:11

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The longest of the artworks on the Island City Sculpture Trail, Sentinels runs the full length of Carey’s Lane. At 120 metres, it is almost exactly as long as Dublin’s Spire is tall. The lane itself is quite narrow – just a little over 3 metres wide, and Sentinels runs close to the middle of the lane for most of its length.

Interconnected beams of treated cedar wood are suspended over our heads, with stainless steel fixings and bright red thick sailing rope used to attach them firmly to the walls on either side of this narrow passageway. Originally a warm brown when the artwork was first installed, the cedar will slowly silver over time.

At either end of the lane there is a flat section of wood that is attached at a right angle to the wall, and lit by a natural white neon light strip. A seagull perches on this beam at both ends of the lane – our sentinels. Matching the shape and scale of a seagull, these birds have been cast in black standing out like silhouettes, and
echoing other public sculptures of people, which tend to be black, like cast iron. Both seagulls hold in their beak a golden nugget – a replica of a chicken nugget, cast in jesmonite and covered in gold leaf.

Along the full length of the lane, the jointed sections of wooden beams seem to trace the path of a bird in flight, as one beam bolts to another, changing direction and height, and paced like the beats of the wing, starting at 3.5 metres above the ground, and soaring to 6 metres in places.

Though not a part of the artwork, there are small warm-white fairy lights hung in garlands along the lane which highlight the fixings when illuminated in the evening.

Listen to an audio description about The Face Cup 03:12

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Occupying three floors of a five-floor building on the corner of Princes Street and Oliver Plunkett Street, this artwork draws on locally discovered archaeological finds, and geometric patterns used in decoration in the Bronze Age.

The work is situated on the façade of the building on Princes Street, which has no windows on the upper levels. Each floor of the building has an elaborate cornice at the top, so that it seems as though there were three shelves stacked on top of each other. On each of the three floors, the walls have been painted with large triangle patterns. On the first floor, navy and white triangles; on the second, dusty pink against the natural grey of the building’s plaster work; and on the third, a bright, fresh green, also contrasting with the plaster grey.

On each so-called shelf, a giant replica of the archaeological finds has been mounted. On the first floor is the artefact that gives the artwork its name – The Face
Cup. Originally a practical piece of dining ware, this has been blown up to well over 2 metres high and more than 3 metres wide. Replicating a hand-crafted piece of pottery, its surface is undulating, and shaped by working fingers and thumbs into the soft clay. A face has been carved into the front – two round eyes, a protruding nose, and a thin line for a mouth. An ear lug has been well-formed on the left-hand side, with just a vague ear shape on the right. This face cup was hand-carved in Styrofoam, covered with a smoothing layer of fibreglass, and then painted a dull, antique gold. Though the objects seem to be massive and weighty, they are actually quite light. They are affixed to the wall with stainless steel brackets.

On the second floor is a spoon – its handle pointing upwards, and with deep cracks through its bowl. This too has been made larger than life, at 1.8 metres in height, and 0.75 metres across. Like the face cup, it has been carved and covered to seem like hand-shaped pottery, and painted a dull, antique gold.

On the third floor sits half a cup, as though the other half were inside the building, its handle jutting out over the road. Built and finished in the same manner as the spoon and face cup, this is the last of the three Bronze Age finds.

This artwork sits over the ground floor which is a retail space. One of the former uses for this building was as a theatre in the eighteenth century. It was called the Exchange Building then, and there is a sign that reads “Exchange” on the second floor, near the spoon.

Listen to an audio description about Urban Mirror 02:22

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Placed on a very broad expanse of pedestrianised paving in Cornmarket Street, Urban Mirror is a large table, surrounded by seats, and marked by a yellow light on a pole near the centre. This part of the city is also known locally as Coal Quay, and is only a short distance from the River Lee. The paving for the pedestrianised area is striped with slabs in a brownish red, pale grey and a deep charcoal grey.

A bird’s eye view of this artwork makes it appear like the splash created by a drop of water. The table is made of large sheets of stainless steel, highly polished, and perforated with small holes so that water drains easily. It is an abstract blob shape – gentle curves creating lots of different peninsulas for different groups to sit together to grab a quick lunch, or play a game of chess, or just take a moment in a busy city.

There are about 16 stools, also made of stainless steel, dotted around the table in clusters of twos and threes, with gaps in between to allow for wheelchair users, or families with prams and buggies to use the space as well. And, while the surface of the table is level, there is a slight slope in the striped paving underneath for drainage purposes. This means that the table is higher off the ground on one side, with taller stools, and lower elsewhere, with seating more suitable for young children.

Near the middle of the table blob, there is a stainless-steel pole about 3 metres high. At its top is a large yellow ball made from fibreglass with a rippled surface. When lit, this globe is like the sun. It resembles a giant push pin, like the kind of pins that are used as markers on smartphone map apps.

Plattenbaustudio is a Berlin-based architectural practice, led by Jonathan Janssens and Jennifer O’Donnell.

ListenTALK

ListenTALK

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ListenTALK

ListenTALK

Assisted listening equipment

ListenTALK technology will be available for specific walking tours of the sculpture trail. This technology enables group communication with high sound quality in any facility – indoors or outdoors and is operated through the headset microphone of the tour guide and individual receivers of attendees. These receivers will be linked to individual earpieces or loop systems which can connect to some hearing aids. The technology aims to combat access barriers for those that are hard of hearing.

Navilens

NaviLens helps make cities smarter and more inclusive. Watch out for the navilens code to help guide you between artworks.

Just scan with your mobile camera and get the necessary information contextualised.

Download the app:

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ios app store

ISL DESCRIPTIONS

ISL DESCRIPTIONS

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ISL Descriptions

An ISL translation of some of the key descriptive information of each piece can be found below.

Introduction

Island City: Cork’s Urban Sculpture Trail is a unique trail of five public artworks, featuring work by six artists, for locals and visitors to enjoy. Located on the central island in Cork City, the trail is easily walkable. It animates the city and illuminates Cork’s unique heritage in an arresting, intriguing and playful way.

Island City is a Cork City Council project, fully funded by Fáilte Ireland under the Urban Animation Scheme, with commissioning support from the National Sculpture Factory.

Urban Mirror

Inspired by Corn Market Street’s vibrant and important history. Urban Mirror creates a space and place to welcome and host people. When considering this work, the architects, plattenbaustudio, thought of a table, a simple and universal form of architecture. Seen from a distance or above, the tabletop shines with the reflective qualities of water, connecting it with the rich mercantile and maritime history of Cork City. This reference to water is a nod to the history of this plaza. Locally known as Coal Quay, this area once was a working quay on a channel off the river Lee before it was infilled

The curvilinear and organic form of the tabletop is made of highly polished stainless steel. Suggesting the waterbody that was once here. This table is cleverly designed and can host up to fifty people. The seating is clustered around the curves, so it is social and welcoming groups and comfortable for individuals to enjoy too. As Urban Mirror on a slope, the chair heights vary with the typography so it can welcome people of different heights from low chairs to countertop heights, accommodating pushchairs and motility aids. Underscoring its function as a welcoming and special place of gathering for all.

The table is illuminated at night by a warm yellow globe light just like a pendant light in a dining room. The globe is rough in texture, like a paper lantern or moon. It’s designed to be something you can see from a distance in daylight. It’s like a dropped pin on the map of the street. At night Instead of the sky being the roof of over the table, the light glows almost like a ceiling. It is a place to be social, rest and relax.

Boom Nouveau

The concept for Boom Nouveau, arose from looking at the city’s everyday life. Starting with function is a useful way of considering this artwork. It’s a streetlight and lamppost, such a familiar part of the urban furniture of the city street. An object that is so common that we might not otherwise notice it. Exemplified by this streetlight, which appeals to our sense of the familiar, and yet presents in a new and unfamiliar way. As an object of art, a practical object designed as a meeting point, and an object of useful beauty.

The artists, Forerunner, were interested in exploring and expanding the material things that constitute the cityscape by working playfully with commonly found materials. The form of the sculpture is loosely based on Art Nouveau designs. In particular, it references the work of Hector Grimard, famous for his designs for the Paris Metro infrastructure. Art Nouveau was a movement inspired by the organic sinuous forms of plants and flowers.

Similarly, this work, Boom Nouveau, has clear natural forms in its design. The reeded elements of the post draw your eye up during the day, and by night it is illuminated. It resembles a plant, with its three green stems and three glass bulbs. Here colour and materials interact to compound the significance of the work. The sculpture is painted Verdigris, a grey-green, colour which occurs from a slow oxidization of bronze over time.

The Sentinels

This work is suspended overhead and it runs parallel to the full length of Careys Lane. Starting at Patrick Street and ending at Paul Street. The Sentinels (flew through the ages in the shape of birds) by the artist Niamh McCann is influenced by Cork City’s ongoing and deep relationship with immigrant cultures. Whose influence is found in its rich architecture, crafts, arts, music, and food cultures past and present.

Two Seagulls are perched at either end of the suspended wood structure, the sentinels. The seabirds’ lives coexist in the urban and the maritime. The artist particularly liked their cheeky character which represents a certain kind of urban adaptability and resilience, and the playful and rebellious sensibility of the Cork character. They will dive in to eat your ice cream or chips in one swoop. And the other hand they play majestically over seascapes moving freely through seasons, weather conditions, and continents. Both seagulls hold in their beak a golden nugget – a replica of a chicken nugget, cast in jesmonite and covered in gold leaf.

The work is underlit by neon. The irregular angles suggest a stylised pattern of tree branches. The structure is anchored in the walls of the 30 meter long lane by a red cord. Careys Lane is home to one of the few surviving Huguenot Graveyards in Western Europe. Huguenots in Cork were closely associated with many aspects of the textile industry and were considered experts in many fine crafts. This red cord resonates with this social history. Niamh McCann undertook considerable research from maps and later in the process brought much consideration and sensitivity to where to anchor fixtures on the buildings. Creating a sympathetic line for the work and various shopfront and street signs along the lane.

The Face Cup

The Face Cup by artist Fiona Mulholland references two things unique to Cork: the rich dining culture of Princes Street and the broader heritage of County Cork. This work is inspired by a significant archaeological find from Mitchelstown, County Cork. In 2004, during roadworks, an archaeologist excavated “The Face Cup” and other objects, including a spoon. This 3,800-year-old anthropomorphic vessel is an exceptional artifact, with nothing similar found in Europe or Ireland since. These treasures are now in the care of The National Museum of Ireland.

When forming her response to this corner site, artist Fiona Mulholland considered it to resemble layered shelves, like an Irish Dresser, stacked with precious and everyday crockery. The idea of representing the cup and spoon reminded her of the exchanges we have over tea or at the kitchen table. Mulholland decided to take the curiously humorous form of the cup and spoon as the basis for the artwork.

She recreated these important finds three-dimensionally in styrofoam and fiberglass, which helped her achieve the desired scale while keeping the pieces lightweight. She painted them gold in a nod to their Bronze Age heritage, and they are mounted on a frame on the building’s façade.

Tempus Futurum

Tempus Futurum looks at humanity’s impact on the environment. Artist Brian Kenny created the work, telling a story that reaches from the past to our imminent future. This commission is a temporary work and was designed especially for screening and projection onto Christchurch Triskel, in the winter months. The story arcs from the past to our imminent future.

The work begins with the rich imagery of untouched, pristine Irish native forests, moving to the Celts’ arrival—marking the dawn of cultivation and the birth of the City. From there, the work journeys through Viking and Norman times, showcasing the rise and fall of civilizations. Each era is brought to life through vignettes highlighting key moments in human history and their impact on the land. As the story progresses, the focus shifts to modern challenges like climate change, illustrating the direct link between human actions and environmental consequences. The projection serves as a visual reminder of our shared responsibility.

A key feature of this work is the involvement of 50 local children from St. Maries of Isle National School. With the help of Aoife O’Connell, the children shared their ideas about the future of the Triskel building, bringing a fresh, youthful perspective to the project. This collaboration culminates in an interactive finale that symbolizes hope, as sustainable practices drive positive change. To emphasize the relationship between human choices and nature’s resilience. The projection used live data from a nearby bike station. As bikes are used, the foliage in the projection blossoms in real-time, highlighting how our everyday actions can impact the world around us.

The interactive finale reflects sustainability, showcasing the link between human choices and nature’s balance. It reflects on the city’s growth, urging consideration of today’s impact on tomorrow’s landscapes. (Screened in winter 2023)

Winter Sun

Winter Sun is a moving-image work by Cork artist Elinor O’Donovan. The work is a preserved piece of a warm Cork summer, saved for the months when it is most needed. Taking as its inspiration the iconic view from the top of Patrick’s Hill at Bells Field, the video work is a looping film depicting Corkonians sharing a moment of togetherness, connected by their mutual appreciation for a setting summer sun.

In 1750, when the Triskel Christchurch building was just twenty years old, Cork painter John Butts depicted the growing city of Cork in his painting “View of Cork from Audley Place”. The painting, which is part of the collection of Cork Crawford Art Gallery, depicts two different viewpoints of the city which the artist seamlessly blended into one panorama. The pink-ish tint to the sky suggests the setting is early evening, and in the foreground two men and a dog look out over the north side of the city. The vista depicted in Butts’ painting is a familiar sight for many Corkonians, and to fans of the film and TV series ‘The Young Offenders’ (as its used as a key location in both). For me, Audley Place (or what is generally referred to as Bell’s Field), is a place of respite. Often on summer evenings, I make the short walk from my house in St Luke’s up to Military Hill, then down towards Bell’s Field. Occasionally, I’ll go there in moments of stress, with something on my mind. When I sit on the grass and look out over the city, I find myself able to enjoy a moment of peace. On other occasions I visit Bell’s Field with friends, and we huddle together on a blanket (if we’ve remembered to bring one, that is) and point at all the landmarks we recognise. Once, I made the pilgrimage up Patrick’s Hill with an American who was new to Cork, determined to show him the best view of the city. Out of breath, but proud of the achievement of having walked up that hill, we were rewarded with a vibrant sunset.

ISL Support

Island city endeavours to expand its provision of ISL translations to support the engagement of this initiative and will continue to add to these resources, during the course of the initiative.

Feedback

We welcome your feedback. If there is anything else you would like to know or see in this document. Please don’t hesitate to contact us.

ISLAND CITY

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ISLAND CITY

ISLAND CITY

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ISLAND CITY

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ISLAND CITY