Artists Commentary:

The River Slaney

The River Slaney, an Irish river, rises in the Wicklow foothills under the Northwest side of Lugnaquilla and meanders parallel with the coastline, through Baltinglass by its famous ruined Abbey, through Bunclody and Enniscorty to join the sea at Wexford Harbour. Many of the famous battles associated with the 1798 Rising took place on the banks of the Slaney. The river mouth is also well known as a slops or bird sanctuary of international appeal.

The image is from one of a series of river gods commissioned by the famous architect James Gandon (1743-1823) from Edward Smyth, a virtually unknown stonemason who worked on them from 1780 to their completion in 1786, for the Custom House in Dublin.

The "heads of the river" were 14 in number and were called after 14 different rivers in Ireland. The Liffey is the only female of the 14. The sculptures can be seen to this day on the outside of the building, over 200 years later.