Tearmon na Gaoithe
This is a vernacular sculpture born of its environment. The stone, quarried and thrown up by the waves, has been laid so as to form a shelter, a sanctuary, a place near the pulse of the tide, the breath of the winds. It belongs only here.
ARTWORK
The sculpture, 'Tearmon na Gaoithe' (Sanctuary of the Winds) is located on a headland which juts out into the Atlantic; to the right is Killala Bay and to the left Lacken Bay. The site is among the most spectacular on the trail. 'Tearmon na Gaoithe' is a cell made up of locally sourced sandstone slabs, inside a ring of flush-laid stones on the edge of the wild Atlantic. The structure evokes mediation and sanctuary, recalling the monastic tradition and eremitical cells of the Western seaboard.
ARTIST - ALAN COUNIHAN
Alan Counihan is a native of Dublin. He now divides his time between Ireland and the US. Alan is a self taught artist whose ‘field of engagement lies in the human need to imbue landscape with meaning on both an individual and communal level but also in the exploration of inherited notions of cultural identity. The means used to these explorative ends are several and include sculptural forms, texts, photography, sound and theatre’.
STATUS
In good condition
LOCATION:
Take the Ballycastle road out of Killala and turn right at Palmerstown Bridge. Turn right at the third crossroads and on past Kilcummin Pier and St Cummin’s Well. Turn right and then left up the hill, continue straight down to Lacken Bay. At the end of the road on the right is the sculpture The Echo of Nawascape. Follow the Tír Sáile directional sign by foot along the coast. Follow the signs for the Kilcummin loop. Walk for approximately 700 metres to 'Tearmon na Gaoithe'. There is a picnic table at Echo of Nawascape.
latitude: 54.287004
longitude: -9.218207
