Kindred Spirits
About
Nine stainless steel eagle feathers, each about twenty feet tall, standing in a circle in Bailick Park at the south end of the town. Alex Pentek's sculpture was unveiled in June 2017 and it commemorates something specific: in 1847, at the height of the Great Famine, the Choctaw Nation in the United States sent money to Ireland for famine relief. They had themselves been forced west along the Trail of Tears sixteen years earlier. Sources differ on the exact sum, with the figure usually given as around 170 dollars. Members of the Choctaw Nation travelled to Midleton for the dedication. It takes five minutes to see and rather longer to stop thinking about, and it is free and open at all times.
Photos
Highlights
- ✓Nine stainless steel feathers, each roughly twenty feet tall
- ✓Alex Pentek's 2017 sculpture, dedicated with members of the Choctaw Nation present
- ✓Open ground in Bailick Park, free and accessible at any hour
- ✓About a fifteen-minute walk south from Main Street
Tips
- →It is in Bailick Park, off Bailick Road, not on Main Street. Walk south out of the town centre.
- →Overcast light works better on the brushed steel than hard sun does.
- →Read the dedication before you photograph it. This is a memorial, not a sculpture park piece.
- →Easy to combine with Ballyannan Wood, which is further along the same side of town.
Best Season
More Attraction Activities
Midleton Distillery Experience
The 1825 distillery off Main Street, on fifteen acres. A guided 75 minutes, a short film, three whiskeys and a drink at the end.
Midleton to Youghal Greenway
Twenty-three kilometres of old railway line, Midleton to Youghal, on an easy gradient the whole way. Trailhead at Midleton station.
Ballyannan Wood
Twenty-five hectares of old estate woodland on the estuary, known locally as the Bluebell Woods. Coillte's waymarked loop is 2.3km.