Limestone

BY EILEEN MCDONAGH

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Poised Portal by Eileen McDonagh (1987). Constructed from limestone, it stands on Custom House Quay in Limerick City.

Sometimes I have had difficulty photographing this because of minor anti-social issues but this year there were no such problems. In fact, I ended up having on the spot discussions with some really interesting and well informed locals.

Eileen MacDonagh was born in Geevagh, County Sligo in 1956 and has worked as a sculptor since the 1980s. For her contribution to sculpture and the Arts in Ireland, MacDonagh was elected in 2004 to Aosdána, the Irish organisation that recognises artists that have contributed a unique body of work.

MacDonagh’s work has featured in many exhibitions, both in Ireland and abroad, including shows in Portugal, Scotland, India and Japan. Eileen has both organised and participated in the International Sculpture Symposium movement, in Ireland and abroad; her work is included in numerous collections, such as the Irish Office of Public Works (OPW), the Lough Boora Sculpture in the Parklands, County Offaly, Kilkenny and Cork County Councils, Marlay Park, Dublin and Tawara Newtown, Osaka, Japan.

MacDonagh works mainly in stone to produce large-scale sculptures. Due to the scale of her work, she has tended to concentrate on public art commissions although she has also exhibited in the context of the gallery exhibitions. She received a Diploma in Sculpture at the School of Art, Regional Technical College, Sligo, Ireland (1974–79) and an Art Teachers Certificate from the Limerick School of Art & Design (1979–80). MacDonagh’s first solo exhibition in 1992,Truss, showed large-scale works made from both wood and stone. MacDonagh has continued through her career as a sculptor taking on large-scale projects, and has built up a large body of public art since across Ireland and in other countries.

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