A Mural By Arches On Dock Road In Waterford

THIS MAY HAVE BEEN REMOVED

• Mural By Arches On Dock Road
• Dublin Based Polish Illustrator Magdalena Karol
• Mural By Decoy On The Trade Coffee Facade
• Reassessing the Waterford Greenway
• Exploring Thomas Hill And Carrigeen Park
• Actual Physical Walls Of Waterford
• The Highly Recommended Medieval Museum
• David Maker And The Museum Of Time
• Ireland's National Horological Museum
• Is This Public Art Or A Rusty Metal Yoke
• Huge Canvas For Some Amazing Murals
• Two Spacer Murals By Shane Sutton
• The Quays by Dan Kitchener
• Dan Kitchener Overpainted His 2015 Mural
• The Unsigned Mural
• The Keepers Mural Is Overpainted
• Finders Keepers Mural From 2017 To 2026
• The Curious Case of the Vanishing Mural
• One Mural Replaced Another
• Mural By Neto Vettorello

This mural was painted in August 2018 during the fourth edition of the Waterford Walls International Street Art Festival. I Photographed it in August 2021 but did not publish any photographs until August 2026.

Artwork Details

Artwork Details

• Artist: ACHES

• Festival: Waterford Walls

• Location: Dock Road / Ferrybank, Waterford (on the gable end beside Flynn's Off-Licence)

• Style: Rendered in ACHES's signature additive RGB colour separation / sub-pixel digital glitch technique, where vertical striped channels of colour combine optically from a distance to construct the tonal depth of the portrait.

The Artist & Visual Style

• ACHES is a Dublin-born street artist, muralist, and graphic designer who began writing graffiti as a teenager before studying Visual Communications at the National College of Art and Design (NCAD). His signature aesthetic bridges traditional graffiti hand-lettering, portraiture, and digital display technology.

• Colour Theory & Digital Glitch: His work explores additive (RGB) and subtractive (CMYK) colour separation. By superimposing striped, offset sub-pixel layers and translucent colour bands directly onto raw brick or concrete, he translates screen mechanics (such as CRT raster scans, digital compression artifacts, and chromatic aberration) into large-scale analogue spray-paint pieces.

• Optical Mixing: Viewed close-up, the imagery dissolves into stark, hard-edged vertical bars of flat colour; when viewed from a distance, the human eye performs the colour mixing, resolving the striped channels into naturalistic skin tones and three-dimensional facial contours.

Relationship with Waterford Walls

• Waterford Walls has served as a key recurring canvas for ACHES throughout his development as one of Ireland's foremost contemporary street artists. The festival's large-scale industrial walls and gable ends offer the expansive sightlines essential for his optical effects to resolve fully for passing pedestrians and motorists. His recurring contributions across festival editions in Waterford have helped define the town's reputation as a major open-air gallery, with his distinct sub-pixel portraits standing out as landmark anchor pieces in districts like Ferrybank and the city centre.

This exact location on in sits directly within the transformative footprint of the Waterford North Quays Strategic Development Zone (SDZ) and its associated Public Infrastructure Project.

The North Quays Public Infrastructure Project

Context & Status

• Historical Use & Dereliction: The low-rise building at the front operated as Flynn’s Off-Licence before falling derelict, leaving the gable wall behind it exposed.

• Road Realignment & Public Infrastructure Works: Under the North Quays Public Infrastructure Project (funded by the Urban Regeneration & Development Fund, the NTA, and Waterford City & County Council), Dock Road, Fountain Street, and Abbey Road have undergone comprehensive realignment, widening, and junction restructuring. This road widening and civil works scheme forms the primary access route linking the North Quays SDZ to the wider road network.

• New Public Transport Hub & Plaza: The land directly opposite and adjacent along this stretch of Dock Road is the site of the relocated, multi-modal Waterford Integrated Transport Hub (relocating Plunkett Station onto the SDZ site) and an expansive public entrance plaza fronting onto Dock Road.

• SDZ Regeneration Footprint: The broader surrounding site is part of the masterplanned mixed-use development comprising commercial, retail, and residential blocks. Because this corridor was designated for carriageway widening, active travel cycle paths, and public realm improvements serving the new transport interchange and the River Suir Sustainable Transport Bridge, these roadside derelict structures and boundary walls were cleared and incorporated into the ongoing public infrastructure works.

ANOTHER MURAL AT FERRYBANK

MURAL BY DECOY ALSO PHOTOGRAPHED AUGUST 2021

THE LEGACY CATALOG

* In The Year 2008 * In The Year 2011 * In The Year 2017 * Henrietta Back In 2010

Railway Stations

* Clontarf Railway Station * Docklands Railway Station * Malahide Railway Station

Examples Of Waterford Walls Murals

• Mural By Arches On Dock Road
• Dublin Based Polish Illustrator Magdalena Karol
• Mural By Decoy On The Trade Coffee Facade
• David Maker And The Museum Of Time
• Huge Canvas For Some Amazing Murals
• Two Spacer Murals By Shane Sutton
• The Quays by Dan Kitchener
• Dan Kitchener Overpainted His 2015 Mural
• The Unsigned Mural
• The Keepers Mural Is Overpainted
• Finders Keepers Mural From 2017 To 2026
• The Curious Case of the Vanishing Mural
• One Mural Replaced Another
• Mural By Neto Vettorello
• Bugs Bunny Mural By ADRE
• StayLo - Unofficial Mural
• A Really Really Long Mural
• Mural By OMIN
• Mural By Marie Balbinot From Brazil
• Artist At Work
• DeLaSalle Hall Mural By Eoin O'Connor
• Mantra By Torbe36
• Mural By Sonny Sundancer August 2017
• Another Mural By Sonny Sundancer August 2021
• Mural By Dan Leo At 2 Park Road In Waterford
• Mural By Mr Cenz
• Waterford Murals Photographed in July 2018
• Mural By Alex Senna Photographed In August 2025
• A Scribble Grid In Action
• Animalitoland's Mural From 2018 Waterford Walls
• Flowers On The Street By Lula Groce
• Nerone The Artist And His Art On Display In Waterford
• Mural By Laker And Land
• Laura A Mural By Taquen
• The Same But Different By Zabou

Waterford Walls 2025 Locations

Ballybeg Park

• EMIC – 157 Ballybeg Park

Mount Sion Avenue

• KMG – Swans of Lir (No. 85)
• MR. BLOB – Mount Sion Avenue

Stephen Street

• Magda Karol – Stephen Street
• Nickie Harrington – Stephen Street
• Gabriela Joyce – Stephen Street

Thomas Street

• Novice – Thomas Street
• Omin – Thomas Street
• PENS – Thomas Street

O'Connell Street

• Nerone – O'Connell Street

Parnell Street

• Blu Heron – Parnell Street

The Forum Hub

• Kohneshia – The Forum Hub

Multi-Site & Citywide Installations

• Dotmasters – 9 installations across Waterford City
• Blackdoors – 5 installations across Waterford City

Waterford Walls 2024 (10th Anniversary Highlights)

O'Connell Cultural Quarter (O'Connell St / George's St / Gladstone St)

• Aches – Large-scale portrait / chromatic aberration piece (O'Connell St)
• Curtis Hylton – Flora and fauna mural (Gladstone St)
• Curtis Hylton & Shane O'Driscoll – Collaborative installation (George's St)

The Glen / Ballybricken

• Smug One – Photo-realistic character piece (The Glen)
• KinMx – Mythological & botanical figure (Ballybricken)

The Apple Market / Railway Square

• Zurik – Dynamic geometric lettering (Railway Square)
• Dan Leo – Bold graphic wildlife illustration (Apple Market vicinity)

Millers Marsh / Waterside

• Kitsune Jolene – Atmospheric portraiture (Waterside car park)
• French & Mottershead – Site-responsive installation (Millers Marsh)

Waterford Walls 2023 Highlights

New Street / Apple Market

• Rustam Qbic – Surreal narrative mural (New St Car Park)
• Juliette Viode – Figurative piece (Apple Market lane)

O'Connell Street & Cultural Quarter

• Anna Lina – Botanical & nature installation (O'Connell St)
• Street Art Frankey – Playful micro-installations (Various Cultural Quarter spots)

Stephen Street / Mayor's Walk

• Peachzz – Wildlife and floral theme (Mayor's Walk)
• Garreth Joyce – Contemporary graphic mural (Stephen St)

The Mall / Waterfront

• Signs of Power (Amime) – Typographic / lettering mural (The Mall)
• Taquen – Minimalist nature study (Quayside approaches)

Waterford Walls 2022 Highlights

The Glen & Green Street

• Mojo – Contemporary portrait (The Glen)
• Lost Optics – Retro-futuristic abstract patterns (Green St)

Ballybricken

• Sonny Sundancer – Large-scale endangered wildlife mural (Ballybricken Green)
• James Earley – Stained-glass inspired abstraction (Bull Post area)

Barrack Street / Mount Sion

• Mister Copy – Classical figurative study (Barrack St)
• Shane Sutton – Spacer/astronaut series (Mount Sion area)

City Centre & Quays

• Dan Kitchener (DANK) – Rainy night urban cityscape (Quayside)
• Thinker – Abstract graphic mural (The Quay car park wall)