THE MOTHERSHIP BY RACHEL JOYNT – NEWTOWNSMITH SOMEWHERE BETWEEN DUN LAOGHAIRE TOWN AND GLASTHULE
According to Google Maps this sculpture is located in Bruce McGovern Doyle Park [sounds like the name of a business] … I have never heard of a park of this named and cannot find any descriptions of it elsewhere. I would describe the area as the seafront at Marine Parade or Newtownsmith in Glasthule.
I first photographed this in 2001 and I have always liked it.
I have seen this described online as the Sea Urchin Sculpture locate on the Glasthule Promenade however I noticed, a few years ago, a plaque which read as follows: “Mothership By Rachel Jotnt 1999”.
Mothership was commissioned in 1998 through an open competition as part of an Art Programme for the Dun Laoghaire Drainage Scheme. The sculpture is located in Newtownsmith which is an area between Dun Laoghaire and Glasthule. Over time it has become an iconic and popular work that has captured public imagination. Its scale and form leads itself to inter-action, as its is possible to climb into the body of the shell.
The sculpture, made of cast bronze and stainless steel, depicts a sea urchin positioned on its side and suspended in motion leaving a trail of metal silver droplets.
It is as if the sea urchin has been thrown up onto the shore by a wave. Positioned at a slight angle, we can follow the moving sea urchin’s tracks – small stainless steel discs – as it spins to a halt, and surprisingly remains upright.
The sea urchin is a confident statement of clear sea water, made possible by Dun Laoghaire Drainage Scheme. On a more subtle level the diameter chosen for the piece is the same diameter that is used in the tunnelling and pipe construction involved in the Drainage Scheme.
The work is positioned to allow the viewer to look through it and out to open sea.
THE ROOF RESTORATION HAS BEEN COMPLETED AT PEARSE RAILWAY STATION DUBLIN
Due to its proximity to Pearse Street, many Dubliners[myself included] refer to the station incorrectly as Pearse Street Station. My mother refers to it as Westland Row Station
A €10m roof replacement project started in August 2018 and was completed in June 2020.
Pearse railway station or Dublin Pearse is a railway station on Westland Row on the Southside of Dublin, Ireland. It is Ireland’s busiest commuter station and second busiest station overall (behind Dublin Connolly railway station) with 9 million passenger journeys through the station in 2016.
The roof structure comprises two main sections – the main station area roof has 40 barrelled roof trusses, each spanning 28 metres, over 38 bays, with additional gable end structures at both ends. Adjacent to the main station roof there is a second similar roof, which covers a car park and station infrastructure area. This is smaller, and comprises 19 trusses over 18 bays.
Pearse Station was closed for 13 weekends over the two years to facilitate the replacement project. During these weekends, Northside DART, Maynooth and Drogheda services operated to and from Connolly Station, with Southside DART and Rosslare services operating from Grand Canal Dock.
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