The Linenhall

Castlebar ,Co.Mayo Ireland  

Looking in all directions

Exhibitions 2008

Contents

The sea is sublime, is also a place of tragedy. People will always work,play,swim and eat from it . Some lives end in it.

Every scenic and dramatic stretch of Irish coastline has its own history of wrecks and drowning; every cemetery has stories and memorials to those who have no bodies left to bury. Memorials of those lost to the sea are few, but are often monuments placed away from communities.

In Austria, “Marterl” (wayside shrine) are used to mark the location of a misfortune or accidents. They are a kind of personal memorial: often located on the roadside .

They can consist of a simple cross with an obituary, decorated with flowers and a candle . Some are more elaborate.

In past times they commemorated work accidents,or disastrous natural occurrences . “Devil’s painters” were commissioned to make the Marterl , and often depicted the accident in a vivid graphic manner. Occasionally verse was also added .

Ireland does not have a Marterl culture like Austria,although commemorative roadside crosses,stones and plaques are common.

This work does not mourn the sea-dead, but commemorate souls lost to the sea.

It does not alter any sea tragedy, but merely indicates its occurrence,like the wayside shines of Austria

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