Limerick Dockers Monument 2008  

City of Limerick, Ireland – proposal

Steel, stone, bronze, lights, cast bronze, archival images

The Limerick-Shannon Gateway is unique and the intention in designing a public art project for the Steamboat Quay area was to respond and expound upon this historic urban space. The choice of materials reference marine and urban influences, while the archival photographs explores in detail the daily activities of labour around the quays and offer a glimpse into this rich historical period. A bronze steel band between the images displays the Longitude and Latitude position of the monument.

At the top of the stainless steel cone (horn) is a cast model replica of a cargo ship from the 1800’s-1920 period and below the boat a cast bronze rope circles the column and refers to the physical act of pulling and securing rope. At ground level a steel circle surrounds the column creating space for commemorative text. Lights imbedded into this area are sequenced to the flow of the night tide and such tidal references are explored in the gradual change of the light colour as it responds to water height and flow. Time, colour and material form a connection to the activities of the harbour and the movements of boats as they navigate the marine environment.