The Bridges of Dublin: artist Fergal McCarthy takes a deeper dive

Artist Fergal McCarthy introduces his new exhibition The Bridges of Dublin, a colaboration with The Little Museum of Dublin that hopes to redefine the perception of the capital's iconic river for a new generation of curious Dubliners.

The Liffey Swim by Jack B. Yeats is one of my favourite works of art, I first came across the painting on the cover of a phonebook back when they were still found in every household hallway.

Moving to Dublin in my 20s I was drawn again to the river, it soon became the focus of my work. I swam through the city on multiple occasions with a photographer and filmmaker trying to capture some of the same beauty I had first seen on that phonebook cover.

Larger projects followed, including a set of giant Monopoly Houses moored near the Ha'penny Bridge and a floating desert island in the Docklands where I lived for a week in 2012.

Over the past year I’ve done a deep dive into the history of the Liffey’s bridges, unearthing the backstory of how each bridge was painstakingly designed, built, named and often renamed.

I learned that the bridges tell another story too: the vagaries of our economic fortunes over the last 200 years are clearly on show, with the design and materials used in each bridge corresponding to the country’s wealth at the time. The use of granite in the Georgian era was replaced with reinforced concrete in the lean decades following independence in 1921. The white steel Celtic Tiger era bridges tell another story.

Poring over old prints of the refurbished quays in the 1800s has been a reminder once again to me, that Dublin can be a very beautiful city.

Male nationalists, politicians or writers seemed to be the only demographic considered in the bridge naming process until the long overdue arrival of the Rosie Hackett Bridge in 2014. Queen Maeve did manage to briefly tilt the gender balance for 20 years, until nationalist Liam Mellows co-opted her named bridge in 1942.

I used my new knowledge of the bridges to construct a 10-metre long portrait of the Liffey for this exhibition. The characters that have shaped the river's story populate the quays and cross the bridges, explaining their role in the city’s development. Seals, seagulls and swans lead the narrative. Kangaroos, kayakers and cats also make an appearance. In my retelling, Anna Livia has left her jacuzzi in Croppies Memorial Park and has made her return to the river.

I have loved learning more about the river. Poring over old prints of the refurbished quays in the 1800s has been a reminder once again to me, that Dublin can be a very beautiful city. The recent initiative to remove traffic on the quays is already making the river a far more attractive space. It’s Dublin’s good room, let’s use it.

The Bridges of Dublin can be viewed at The Substation, Dublin Port Company from Thurs – Sun 11am – 3pm until Sunday Nov 3, 2024 - find out more here.