ANAM:

Blast : Artist in Residence Project September 2025- January 2026

Together with the 6th class pupils of Ballinrobe primary school and their teacher Mr. Kenny, we explored the heritage of Ballinrobe, Co. Mayo. This historical town was once a market capital in the west of Ireland.

There are many fascinating historical sites in the town that evoke an atmosphere of the town’s past and a way of life that has now long vanished. Over the course of eight weeks the students explored these various heritage sites through drawing, sculpture in card and clay and also casting in plaster.

Looking at the past through a creative lens, the students imagined how some of these heritage buildings might have looked when they were functional centres of life in the town.

In our final session, a song was composed to encapsulate the spirit of the project. There are many stories that are yet untold about Ballinrobe, and there is mystery: as the song says, these stories may never be known.

Song composed with 6th Class pupils of Ballinrobe Primary School

There’s a tale to be told about Ballinrobe

Town of the ‘angry river’

It’s big but it was bigger,

It’s big but it was bigger..

Is there mystery in the history, a tale that might not be told?

Or would you believe it anyway,

Would you believe it anyway?

Chorus

The market, the mill, the courthouse, the abbey;

Where children played on the grass and they were so happy.

For centuries the tale was like a melody but we forget the words,

There are memories in the melodies, memories in the melodies.

Chorus

The market the mill the courthouse the barracks, the abbey,

Where the children played on the grass and they were so happy.

Time has crushed and crumbled these stories until they are no more,

Forgotten stories of Ballinrobe that never will be told,

And the ancient river flows.

Chorus

The market, the mill, the courthouse, the barracks, the abbey.

Where the children played on the grass and they were so happy.

I enjoyed this project and learning more about Ballinrobe and a fascinating history and heritage. It is clear that the untold stories of Ballinrobe can provide a stirring insight into the history of Ireland as a whole. We can see the cost of the war of independence, the violence that forever changed a landscape and the long process of self determination to shape a future while co-existing with the inherited and indelible presence of the past.

We learned that Moore Hall just outside the town, has an inscription over the door in Latin: “Fortis Cadere Non Potest” which means, “A brave man may fall but never yield”.

Given the sad fate of George Moore and his family, this is a poignant reminder of the struggles and losses that have been a part of our collective history on this island.

Other sites that were explored include the Ballinrobe railway, the Mills, the courthouse, the barracks, the Abbey and Cornmarket. Students researched these sites, exploring heritage records on Dúchas.ie and they also walked through the town with their teacher to get a closer look.

Working with clay and also going through the process of casting with plaster were challenging aspects of the project, yet brought a tactile experience. It was good to be able to share this process with the children to connect in a tactile way with our theme of the built heritage in Ballinrobe.

I was a pleasure to meet the students and work on this project together.

I hope you enjoy the short film edited together from our project.

Maith sibh agus Míle buíochas 🙏🏻

Well done everyone, many thanks,

Sharon