Plans unveiled for new sea shanty sculpture for Cobh 

Sculptor Ray Lonsdale's Sea Shanty work.

Plans have been unveiled for the installation of a dramatic sea shanty sculpture amidst a new pocket park and raingarden on the seafront overlooking Cork harbour.

Cork County Council has published the details in a Part 8 planning application for the 3.6m high statue at Five Foot Way carpark in the town. The statue has been gifted to the people of Cobh by Garry and Anne Wilson, the couple who bought and restored Belvelly Castle.

The twice life-size corten steel sculpture, commissioned by the Wilsons and built by British steel fabricator, Ray Lonsdale, depicts a shantyman singing the song ‘Holy Ground’.

Mr Lonsdale, an artist who works from his Two Red Rubber Things studio near Durham, in the northeast of England, is renowned for his oversized, and often sombre sculptures, many of which are inspired by, and installed close to the sea.

He spent five months crafting the piece which depicts a bearded sailor, playing a squeeze box while singing The Holy Ground, with one of his booted feet resting on a stool.

He told the Irish Examiner earlier this month that he hoped the sea would be involved and that the piece would have a decent background.

“It can be facing inland, with the sea as a backdrop, or facing out with a good backdrop — it's all about the right imagery and context for people who visit it and want to take a photograph with it," he said.

Design and location

In its planning documents, the council says the sculpture will be set in a specially designed 120sqm recreational area at the Five Foot Way car park that will include seating and a rainwater garden, close to the Cobh deepwater quay and the town's heritage centre. It will result in the loss of four car parking spaces.

The council says the waterfront location was chosen to emphasise the art piece’s strong connection to the sea and ensure its exposure to "existing high levels of pedestrian footfall".

The reports say the proposal will encourage pedestrians to “linger and relax” and that the raingarden area will provide a green backdrop concealing the cars from users and any photographs of the sculpture.

“The overall aspiration of the scheme is to provide a new, safe, sheltered, and inclusive public space for the community and visitors to take pride in,” the council says.

Submissions and observations from the public on the plans can be made on the council’s website or by post until July 7, at which point a report will be prepared for councillors, who will then vote on whether to proceed with the project or not.