Deirbhle’s Twist

A sculpture based on the local legend associated with St Dervilla.

ARTWORK

The sculpture, Deirbhle’s Twist, overlooking Blacksod Pier was made by raising the existing granite boulders on site, and placing them in an ascending spiral. Bulfin took the theme from the story of Saint Deirbhle. The spiral while a reflection of the work of megalithic sites is also a reference to atomic physics. Bulfin wrote ‘The Stone is the landscape. It was always here. I have just, in a sense, rearranged it.’

ARTIST - Michael Bulfin

Born in Co Offaly. Michael is both a scientist and an artist, with specialist knowledge of trees and forestry. His work has appeared in many group exhibitions including the Irish Exhibition of Living Art; Oireachtas Exhibition; Independent Artists; Aos Óg, Paris (1973); Cork ROSC (1980); A Sense of Ireland, London (1980); Skulptur Biennale, King's Garden, Copenhagen (1990); and Parable Island, Bluecoat Gallery, Liverpool (1991). He is a trained environmental scientist, and has contributed pieces to several environmental art and land art projects, including West Cork Sculpture Trail; Slate Quarries Sculpture Symposium, Kilkenny; Kraakamarken 'Art in Nature', Aarhus, Denmark; Castlewellan Forest Park, Northern Ireland; Tír Sáile, Mayo 5000 Sculpture Symposium and most recently Sculpture in Woodland, at Devil's Glen, Co. Wicklow. He has won a number of competitions for public sculpture commissions, including Bank of Ireland Baggot Street, Castlebar Roundabout, and South Dublin County Council Offices, Tallaght. His competition-winning piece A Walk Among Stone in Ballymun, Dublin, won the Concrete Society of Ireland Sculpture Award in 1990. He served as chairman of the Sculptors' Society of Ireland (1984-1992) and of Project Arts Centre (1972-76), and he has been on the committees of various public art institutions. Michael was a founding member of Project Arts Centre, Dublin and of the Sculptors Society of Ireland.  He is a member of Aosdana.

STATUS

Good Condition.

LOCATION:

Take the Blacksod Road out of Belmullet through Aughleam village to Blacksod Pier. Just before the pier, turn right up the hill for three-quarters of a mile to the car park. You will locate the site directly behind the car park. There are picnic tables nearby.

latitude: 54.095411

longitude: -10.086299