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MAEL SEACHNAILL MAC DOMNAILL LOOKED RATHER LONELY ON SAINT STEPHEN’S DAY 2023

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A SCULPTURE BY JAMES McKENNA

THE TOWN OF TRIM PHOTO BLOG

Irish sculptor, James McKenna, was born in Dublin on the 21st June 1933.

I visited the area in order to photograph this on Christmas Day but because of of weather conditions I was unable to use my camera so I had no option but to wait until St Stephen’s Day.

This area, in Trim, on the banks of the River Boyne has improved over recent years but it is still a bit untidy and the plaque which was missing last year has not been replaced.

Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill, also called Máel Sechnaill Mór or Máel Sechnaill II (949 – 2 September 1022), was a King of Mide and High King of Ireland. His great victory at the Battle of Tara against Olaf Cuaran in 980 resulted in Gaelic Irish control of the Kingdom of Dublin.

Máel Sechnaill belonged to the Clann Cholmáin branch of the Uí Néill dynasty. He was the grandson of Donnchad Donn, great-grandson of Flann Sinna and great-great-grandson of the first Máel Sechnaill, Máel Sechnaill mac Máele Ruanaid. The Kings of Tara or High Kings of Ireland had for centuries alternated between the various Uí Néill branches. By Máel Sechnaill’s time this alternating succession passed between Clann Cholmáin in the south and the Cenél nEógain in the north, so that he succeeded Domnall ua Néill in 980. This system had survived previous challenges by outsiders including the kings of Ulster, Munster and Leinster, and the Viking invasions.

In 980, Olav Cuarán, King of Dublin, summoned auxiliaries from Norse-ruled Scottish Isles and from Mann and attacked Meath, but was defeated by Máel Sechnaill at the Battle of Tara. Reginald, Olaf’s heir, was killed. Máel Sechnaill followed up his victory with a siege of Dublin which surrendered after three days and nights. When Maél Sechnaill took Dublin in 980, according to the Annals of Tigernach, he freed all the slaves then residing in the city.

SHAFTS OF LIGHT IN DROGHEDA – 225046

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A SCULPTURE BY RONAN HALPIN

The plaque describes this as “shafts of light” but elsewhere it is referred to as a “shaft of light”.

A Shaft of Light, created by Drogheda-born sculptor Ronan Halpin, was installed as part of Louth Local Authorities public art programme at a site close to the Garda station in Drogheda.

Ronan has completed a number of major works throughout the country and abroad, including the ‘King and Queen’ at Trim and, more recently, the capping pinnacle on the new refurbished Millmount Tower in Drogheda.

Ronan Halpin was born in Co. Louth in 1958. He graduated from the National College of Art and Design in Dublin with a BA in Sculpture in 1982, and from the Yale School of Art, Connecticut, USA with an MFA in Sculpture in 1984. In 1985 he returned to Dublin where he worked for a number of years before moving his studio to Drogheda Co. Louth. In 1998, he moved to Achill Island where he now lives and works. He has had many exhibitions across Ireland and abroad including a solo outdoor exhibition of sculpture, Carraholly, Westport Co. Mayo and a group exhibition in the Solomon Gallery in Dublin, both in 2012, the Achill Artists Group Exhibition in Kunsthaus Rhenenia, Cologne, Germany and a group outdoor exhibition in Solomon Art, Co. Kildare in 2009. A well known piece of his is “The King and Queen”, in Trim, Co. Meath. His work is in various public and private collections including those of John Bruton, Bill Clinton and Seamus Heaney.

THE WANDERER

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A SCULPTURE BY RALF SANDER AT ST DOMINICK’S BRIDGE IN DROGHEDA

Unfortunately my photographs did not capture the hidden female shape between the two Corten Steel uprights because I did not know what I was looking for … I knew that there must be something to see. There also was a very distracting waste bin.

This sculpture has been described as ‘modern and edgy’ and it was created by an internationally acclaimed artist.


It is a Corten Steel representation of the Celtic goddess Bóinn after which the River is named.

Ralf Sander is internationally famous for this type of work where the negative space is used to create an image.

A solid piece of sculpture occupies space. In this case Sander did the opposite. He investigated possibilities of shaping the empty space. The target is to make an invisible monument. Here the sculpture consists of two large iron pillars. The artist is modelling the empty space in between. Seen from one side a Lady becomes visible in the empty space. Another perspective reveals a migratory bird. Although the object is clearly figurative, it refers to the location in that the figure is actually defined by what’s behind it. The absence is highlighted. This sculpture occupies an area somewhere between visual reality and the sensory experiences, both as observer and as participant. Despite the sculpture’s presence, one can sense that its meaning lies beyond its physical reality. In 2015 internationally renowned artists where invited to develop public art across Northern Ireland and the border counties of the Republic of Ireland to tackle sectarianism and racism in their areas creative projects – to promote tolerance and understanding. The ‘Building Peace through the Arts – Re-Imaging Communities’ programme was funded by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. 106 Artists from eight different countries applied for the project. Winning this competition made the realisation of a large scale version of this idea and the field test possible.

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