Munster in 30 Artworks, No 4: Nest of Lace,  Lynn Kirkham, at Kenmare 

The bronze sculpture at the pier of the Co Kerry town links to the area's proud tradition in lacemaking 
Munster in 30 Artworks, No 4: Nest of Lace,  Lynn Kirkham, at Kenmare 

Lynn Kirkham’s Nest of Lace is an elegant bronze sculpture that stands on the pier in Kenmare, Co Kerry.

Lynn Kirkham’s Nest of Lace is an elegant bronze sculpture that stands on the pier in Kenmare, Co Kerry. Kirkham, a native of Lancashire who is long settled in Templemore, Co Tipperary, has produced a number of large-scale public artworks in bog oak, bronze and steel, including the spectacular Ghost Horses in Co Kildare, and Bó Bainne, the five life-sized Friesians commissioned by Teagasc in Fermoy, Co Cork.

But she is also known as a maker of intricate basketry, weaving hazel and willow branches into figurative and abstract forms, as well as more functional creels and trellises.

All her skills came into play when Kerry County Council awarded her the commission for Kenmare in 2010. “Being a craftsperson, I did my research, and discovered that Kenmare had a long tradition of lace-making,” she says. “And I decided to base my sculpture on that.” 

The project was funded through a Per Cent for Art Scheme connected to the construction of the Ard Bhearna estate on the edge of town. 

Lynn Kirkham’s Nest of Lace in Kenmare.
Lynn Kirkham’s Nest of Lace in Kenmare.

“I worked with the residents there on developing my ideas about how the sculpture could reflect on the lace-making tradition. I brought people in to the Lace Centre in the town, and showed them the needlepoint lacework and patterns that were unique to Kenmare.

“I worked with students at Pobalscoil Inbhear Scéine, the local secondary school, as well, translating those patterns into designs I could work with in bronze. The name we came up with, Nest of Lace, is a reflection of the town’s name in Irish, Neidín, meaning ‘little nest.’” 

Kenmare’s tradition of lacemaking dates back to the 1860s, when the Poor Clare nuns began teaching the craft to the girls attending school at the convent. Kenmare Lace is entirely handmade, and requires great skill with a needle and thread, but the girls proved to be quick learners, and began turning out work of such quality that it attracted the attention of influential admirers such as the travel writer SC Hall. 

At one point, James Brennan, the principal of the School of Art in Cork, was brought in to teach design at the convent school, a development that encouraged the nuns to produce new patterns that were recognisably their very own.

Kenmare Lace was always in demand with visitors to Co Kerry, which was even then a popular tourism destination, but soon it was also being sold in outlets in London and Paris, where the distinctive needlework was known as Point d’Irlandaise.

Lynn Kirkham's Bo Bainne sculpture, Fermoy, Co Cork.
Lynn Kirkham's Bo Bainne sculpture, Fermoy, Co Cork.

“By the end of the 19th century, Kenmare Lace was being collected internationally,” says Nora Finnegan, who runs the Kenmare Lace & Design Centre above the tourist office in the Square. 

“Queen Victoria is known to have had five pieces, and Pope Leo XIII had a Kenmare Lace rochet. But there was a decline in handmade crafts after World War I, and interest fell away again.”

When Finnegan, a native of Cork who’d graduated from the Crawford College of Art and Design, moved to Kenmare as an art teacher in the 1990s, she learned the convent would soon be closing. 

“I asked the nuns to teach me their skills, so they wouldn’t be lost, and I could continue the tradition.”

Finnegan’s collection of Kenmare Lace is on show at the Design Centre, along with two books of the nuns’ unique designs, and her research was invaluable to Kirkham when she began work on her sculpture at her studio in Templemore. The challenge was to reproduce the traditional patterns in wax, so they could then be cast in bronze.

“It was very delicate work, and took me ages,” she says. “When I was done, I sent the piece to the foundry in Dublin, where the casting was overseen by the wonderful Leo Higgins, who has since passed on.” 

Originally, it was planned to place Nest of Lace in the Ard Bhearna estate. 

“But some of the residents suggested putting it on the pier instead. It’s a popular spot for swimming and boating, and they figured it was more likely to be seen there than if we had tucked it away in Ard Bhearna. We had to get the Council to agree, but they went with it in the end, and we placed Nest of Lace on a five-ton boulder. It makes for an interesting juxtaposition.” 

Public sculptures are not always popular, but Nest of Lace is well-loved in the area, says the artist.  

“People are always posting pictures of it online. They’re obviously enjoying the piece.” 

One enterprising seafarer even found a practical use for the artwork. 

“They moored a boat to it,” says Kirkham, with great amusement.

For further information see lynnkirkham.net

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