This article is from page 6 of the 2005-09-13 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 6 JPG
A CLARE County Council demand that a 5,000 year old bog oak tree that forms part of a sculpture be cut by one metre, was described as “impractical and crazy’, this week.
The criticism came from the Kilballyowen Development Association, which has defiantly refused to reduce the height of the tree to three neo b Rene
The sculptor of the piece, rural-rights cam- paigner, Jim Connolly said this week: “The tree can’t be reduced. I have never heard the likes of it in my life. I hope the Council accept the sense of what I had to say.”
The tree is to be complimented by two three- quarter size bronze figures of Diarmuid and
Grainne. It forms part of a twin-memorial ded- icated to the memory of five west Clare men, who lost their lives just off Loop Head in 1862, and ties with west Clare. The men were all pi- lots who helped navigate ships up the Shannon estuary in the 19th century.
Kilballyowen association chairman, John Bonfil explained this week: “The pilots went out in a currach to a ship that was about to come up the estuary. It was a case of whoever got to the ship first, would get the bounty in steering the ship Unfortunately, they all lost their lives.”
A song, “The Five Pilots” had been written in their memory.
In response to the association’s planning
proposal for the monument, the council raised concerns over the height of the proposed struc- tures on the boat house site and the Diarmuid and Grainne site. The Council stated: “Please reduce height of both structures to three as well.”
In the initial documents lodged with the Council, no mention was made by the appli- cants of the age of the tree. It formed part of the Diarmuid and Grainne display, which was initially on show at Shannon Airport. It was removed due to major renovations at Shannon, according to Mr Connolly.
In May, the applicants lodged a photomon- tage of the memorial, stating that the Diarmuid and Grainne display was 5 metres. In August,
they stated that the memorial was now 4 metres high and refused to go lower.
Mr Bonfil said this week: ““We are confident that the proposed memorial will get planning permission. It is a community-based project. It is a positive for the community.
“We have received €20,000 for the two me- morials through Leader and also a contribution from the Foynes Harbour Authority. We hope to unveil the memorials at the 3rd annual Loop Head Gathering Festival next July.
“Both the Shannon Airport Authority, who commissioned the sculpture, and Jim Con- nolly the sculpture who created the piece, have agreed to donate the work to the community in Kilbaha to form part of the proposed develop- ment of the area,” he said