Co Cork artists' residency: 'My father always spoke about our blood being sown into the field'
Richard Forrest with his dogs at the Redbarn Residency, near Youghal. Picture: Kate O'Brien
When artist Richard Forrest looked at a dilapidated cottage with a tree fallen through it on his family’s farm in Youghal, he saw potential where others might have seen ruins. After a period of working in Dublin and studying in the Netherlands, Forrest returned home to Cork in 2020 and began turning the cottage into an artist residency.
The dairy farm has been in the Forrest family for over 250 years. “My father always spoke about our blood being sown into the field, and that was always really emphasised, the importance of the land,” says Forrest.
A graduate of Crawford College of Art & Design, Forrest had a vision to blend the old with the new by building on the site of the original stone cottage and weaving in modern design elements throughout the space.
Forrest did the majority of the work himself, other than the plumbing and electrics. Although he had no construction experience, he knew he could learn the skills needed to complete the build. “I wasn't really worried about not knowing the skills, because I’d spent nearly 10 years having a sculpture practice where I was always learning really complex things,” he explains.
Sustainability has been at the heart of the project, and where possible Forrest has salvaged materials. The floor is made from offcuts from the new boardwalk in Youghal. For three months, Forrest drove onto the beach on a quad bike every evening to collect wood, which the builders were happy to give. “I machined down those cubes, and they're about an inch and a half thick,” he says. “It's a like an old church floor, or a parquet floor, with squares rather than strips.”
A focal point of the space is a wood burning stove that Forrest made himself. It sits against the original stone wall, over exposed flagstones visible through a gap in the floor. Forrest repurposed the legs of an old silage grab to make a unique stand, designed to avoid the uneven stones. “It actually bypasses [the stones] and goes on the sides, and it gives it a bit of an arachnid look,” he says.
The kitchen features a striking mural by Irish artist James Kirwan. “His work is very colourful and has a lot of abstraction, but actually, when you look at it, there's a lot of references to traditional Irish landscapes,” says Forrest.
The space also includes stone light pieces by Swedish artist Felix Bodin, and bespoke chairs made with the help of local craftswoman Mary Byrne.
The next phase of the build will see Forrest transform an old hay barn into a sculpture workshop and studios, and a soundproofed studio for musicians and writers. He plans to construct three tiny homes where artists can stay while they work. In the longer term he wants to create a rewilded sculpture park on the land.
Although Forrest’s vision for the future of the farm marks a change from what came before, he sees it as a natural progression. “As farms are passed down, there's always a new generation to pick it up and move forward into the future in a different way,” he says.
The cost of the project to date has been around €25,000, largely because Forrest salvaged so much material and completed the majority of the work himself. In addition to getting support from his parents and a credit union loan, Forrest has benefited from the Basic Income for the Arts, a pilot scheme that gives a payment of €325 a week to artists. “It's not a massive amount, but it's enough that I can use my time exclusively with this,” he says, adding that “artists are very good with how they use their money.”
The residency has just finished its first year, which was based around rest for artists. Guests included painters, sculptors, musicians and textile artists. “Rest and recuperation for any process is very important, even engines need to rest,” he says. “For artists we need to sit and think and read and listen to music and go for walks.”
Applications are now open for year two, which will begin in March. Forrest has launched a new website under the name Oghyll, a nod to the evolution of the traditional name for Youghal that also captures the ethos of the project. “I like that the name is about transformation, and getting something from the past and putting it into the present and going into the future.”
- For more information about the residency, visit www.oghyll.com
