Sailing on: Sherkin artist fascinated by Ballycotton shipwreck 

Majella O’Neill Collins says she's become a bit obsessed by the wreck of the MV Alta. The disintegrating ship has even inspired much of the artist's exhibition at Uillinn in Skibbereen 

Sherkin-based artist Majella O’Neill Collins ahead of her exhibition at Uillinn West Cork Arts Centre in Skibbereen. Picture: Emma Jervis

The MV Alta has been disintegrating on the rocks at Ballycotton in East Cork since Storm Dennis drove it ashore in February 2020. Majella O’Neill Collins admits she can’t quite explain her fascination with the ship, but it probably has much to do with her love of the sea; she lives on Sherkin Island, where her house is right on the shore.

"If I rolled out of bed I’d end up in the Atlantic – so the Alta could as easily have rocked up outside our front door, you know,” the artist explains.