The Gathering In exhibition is taking place Friday 26th, Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th November at six locations in Cavan town. Experience illuminated lantern sculptures in Cavan town with accompanying poetry and music soundscape.The exhibition is part of the Arts Council's Faoin Spéir project to support outdoor arts events.
The idea for Gathering In came from a discovery made by poet Noel Monaghan of numerous instances of animal references in place names around Co. Cavan. This project pays hommage to the role that animals, both domestic and wild, played in the lives of people in rural and urban parts of the county. There are over 40 large life sized sculptures in the exhibition. These range from horses, flocks of poultry to the farmers or shepards calling them or gathering them in.
In July Tom Meskall, lead artist, worked with 9 Cavan based artists to create several illuminated lantern sculptures. Tom continued to work on the project from his home studio in Co. Mayo and has created numerous other large pieces. He also worked alongside Cavan poet Noel Monaghan and Cavan musician Darragh Slacke to create poetic and musical content to form part of the exhibition. Their accompanying pieces will be available online through QR Codes displayed at each location. The public will be able to access and listen to their work whilst viewing the sculptures. The pieces will be on display daily from 6pm to 10pm over the course of the weekend. Artist invigilators will be on site to tell people more about the project and to assist people to access the accompanying online features. The locations are The Catedral of St. Patrick and Phelim, Urney Church of Ireland, Farnham St., The Townhall Balcony & Rose Garden, The Abbey and The Egg Market. Keep an eye on the Cavan Arts Facebook page for updates. The launch will take place on Friday 26th November at 6pm.
Artists involved:
Paul Farnon Marie Smith Sharon Mundy Helen Foy Fiona Fitzpatrick
Joey Burns Heather Brett Karina Lynch
Original Soundscapes by musician Darragh Slacke.
Poetry by Noel Monaghan.
Street Galleries
Here we have animals
In familiar Cavan places,
All wired-up, paper-skinned, alight
And ready to go,
Prompting us to have thoughts:
A lens to probe our memories
Of fish bones locked in stone,
The bitter winds, the sleet and snow
That only the hills know.
Let’s consider them for a moment
As animals in themselves,
Not just our human projections ...
These are no soft toys.
Silence hangs about the streets
Listening to the rainfall.
They have all endured,
A museum of animals and birds
Forever caged in our words.
Noel Monahan © 2021.
Seisreach
Cuimhním m’athair ina chéachtaire,
Dhá chapaill ag tarraingt
Iarann céachta, is iarann rotha
Ag triall go mall síos an chnoic,
Is súile m’athair ghreamaithe
Ar sceach gheal taobh thíos de
Is an líne díreach á choimeád aige
I bpáirc seimre chapaill, i gcónaí.
Noel Monahan © 2021.
A Pair of Plough Horses
I remember my father ploughing,
Two horses pulling
The iron plough and the iron wheel
Moving slowly down the hill
And my father’s eyes glued
To a white thorn bush below him
And he forever keeping a straight line
In the red clover field.
Noel Monahan © 2021.
A Much-Travelled Image
Sheep drift in the moonlight
To walk about the town,
Behold the man, the shepherd,
He knows the wolves are just
Around the corner of every street.
The churches are very close to one another,
They can hear each other breathe.
The sheep are grazing
In a special space
Neither inside or truly outside.
Darkness speaks to the light:
Relics of memories haunt us
We hear the purr of prayer from within,
The congregation kneeling, sitting, standing...
All the timeless binding between nature and us.
Noel Monahan © 2021.
Let The Images Unfold
Let the images unfold
Let them happen by chance
Let us walk with the moon child
There’s no real plot here
No agenda
No border guard checking papers.
We are all fellow-travellers
On the streets tonight
Celebrate with squeal, moo, hoot, and neigh
Tell your secrets
To The Milky Way.
Noel Monahan © 2021.
The Egg Market
I wonder what the Egg Market
Is hatching up?
A world of free range hens and turkey cocks
A world for our imagination
A world to live in
A world to remember.
We recall the Hen Woman
Her head in her sparán
Forever counting threepenny bits and tanners
And The Fleadh Cheoil Days
All the trad music, lepping and dancing
And Seán Ó Sé:
Ailliliú An Poc Ar Buile...
Noel Monahan © 2021.
Scapegoat
Blow the shofar
From Rosh Hashana to Yom Kippur,
Find an Old Testament goat to blame
Let him carry your shame
Hang all your sins on his horns
Blame the goat, beat the goat
Beat the beat, the oldest song
Blame the goat, beat the goat
Have him wipe your slate clean
Drag the goat to the desert sands
Leave him there to wither and die
To die and wither in the wilderness.
Noel Monahan © 2021.
Abbeylands
This is High Status burial ground.
Here we have: trees, walls, grave stones
And the Bell-Tower
Alongside an installation of:
Cows, goats, fox and stag...
Hare, cat and donkey...
This is St. Mary’s Abbey
Franciscan Friary, Cavan
Burnt down many’s the time
By a friar drunk on wine,
By John Tiptof, the Sasanach
And by O’Reilly’s wife, Mad Mary.
Noel Monahan©2021.
SMAOINTE FÁNACHA STRAY THOUGHTS
Ó GHLEANNGHAIBHLE FROM GLANGEVLIN
Cloisim diadhánach an bhó I hear the lowing of a cow
Ar an ngaoth, For her calf on the wind,
Feicim cailleach ag crú trí chriathar, I see a hag milk into a sieve,
Tuile fola mórthimpeall Blood flowing everywhere
Ar bheallach na bó finne On the pathway of the white cow
Tá stóilín trí chos a ghearradh sa chloch Is a three-legged stool cut in stone
In aice an loch Beside the lake
A choimeádann an spear. That holds the sky.
Noel Monahan © 2021.