Sculptures ready for Town Park

The newly developed Mullingar Town Park will receive two pieces of public art during the month of September.The first sculpture “The Silver Brosna (An Lamh Airgid)” will be installed in the town park’s interior his week.The second sculpture, ‘Stream Spire’ by Cathal McCarthy, a 3.2 metre high series of stainless steel spheres will be in place by September 30th at the gates on Austin Friar Street.The first sculpture, commissioned by Westmeath County Council and ready for installation is “The Silver Brosna (An Lamh Airgid),” a bronze and steel piece created by artist Ann Meldon Hugh who lives and works in Kells.“The Silver Brosna” sculpture is 8 feet high and 3 1/2 feet wide and made in stainless steel and bronze.It depicts the flowing water of the Brosna with intertwining figures, fish and plants. The burnished stainless steel depicts the shimmering and silver movement of water and the bronze relief contains figures and plants.The piece is three dimensional with life-sized sculptures front and back with some figures that appear to move between both sides as though moving through the water.The stainless steel is burnished and the surface has been given a disc-grinded finish to create a three-dimensional, almost holographic effect as one moves around the piece.One one side, the people in the sculpture represent the generations who have lived on the banks of the river in the town of Mullingar.The other side depicts the Bull and Warriors from the legend of the Táin.Ann will be present during the installation of her work and Arts Officer Catherine Kelly is delighted that both installations should be in place in the coming weeks.“Already we are working on the foundations for the first sculpture and all being well, the installation will begin on Wednesday.“The artist will be there during the installation of her work and Ann is delighted that her work will become a part of the permanent public art on display in Mullingar,” said Catherine.Ann drew her inspiration from the many historical and mythical stories about the river Brosna:“I like the idea of depicting the history of Mullingar in this way and I hope the people who will be seeing it in the Town Park will find it interesting and beautiful”.“The River Brosna which flows from Lough Owel through Mullingar Town and into Lough Ennell, is mentioned over and over again in tales factual and legendary. The Lake County, famous for its rivers and lakes is the Brosna’s catchment area, with lakes large and small, a beautiful river and two canals.“The town of Mullingar was built on the Brosna and the name of the town comes from a story involving one of the mills on the river.The river was originally called the Silver Arm and mentioned in the 11th century in a poem by Cuan O Lotchain which lists the High King’s seven privileges as “Fish from the Boyne, Deer from Lubrich, Fruit from Manann, Cresses from the river Brosna, ” Ann explains. Ann also drew inspiration for her sculpture from the legendary account of Ath Feine, (the ford of the warriors), a crossing place over the Brosna which was the site of a battle in the Tain Bo Cuailgne, and the earliest Town Seal (13th century) has a representation of the Brosna flowing beneath a mill wheel.Other work by Ann includes the “JFK Memorial Artwork”, a lifesize portrait of JFK on bronze in New Ross Quay, Wexford and the Vere Foster sculpture, a life-size bronze figure, situated in Tallanstown, Louth.