Cork In 50 Artworks, No 21: Model T Ford at Ballinascarthy, by Kevin Holland

The sculpture in Henry Ford's ancestral village is a popular spot for snapping photographs, and has also been visited by the descendants of the car magnate

Kevin Holland's Model T Ford in Ballinascarthy. Picture: Denis Minihane

It was always well-known that the automobile magnate Henry Ford’s father William was born and reared in Crohane, near the village of Ballinascarthy in Co Cork. But the association was never really marked in the area until the year 2000, when a local committee invited Kevin Holland to create a commemorative sculpture for a site in the village.

Holland’s father was a native of Ballinascarthy, and he had recently completed another major public artwork, the Great Irish Elk on the Mallow Road. The committee accepted his proposal for Ballinascarthy - a life-sized sculpture of the Model T, the vehicle that first brought Ford fame and fortune - and began fundraising for the project.