"Cork is a friendly giant": Irish visual artist brings our counties to life

Artist Paul Broughall put names and faces on the shapes we see on our map - and was harangued by Twitter's infamous Cheese Man in the process
"Cork is a friendly giant": Irish visual artist brings our counties to life

Artist Paul Broughall's rendition of Cork as 'a friendly giant, reaching for the sea water'.

Ever seen a face or a body in some random shape or object you encounter in daily life?

Pareidolia is a very real phenomenon that explains how our brains are hard-wired to perceive faces in the world around us, and for Kildare man and artist Paul Broughall, it hit hard over the weekend.

Upon laying his eyes on his beloved native county, he made something else out entirely, an experience he posted about on Twitter.

It was met with a raucous response from Irish users of the service, and Broughall ploughed on with a thread of other counties that look like things.

And then the plot thickened.

UK and Irish celebrity Twitter has made note of Joe Bangles, a retired cheesemonger better known as the infamous 'Cheese Man' - so-called for questioning celebs on their preferences in his chosen medium.

It's something of a badge of honour, and one that Broughall immediately pinned to his digital lapel upon being asked for his fave fromage.

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