Project funded by Creative Ireland and Kildare County Council through the Creative Communities initiative.
Tóch I Dig is a phased intergenerational community engagement project, initiated by three artists Pamela de Brí, Shane Hynan and Sheena Malone who are interested in working with communities of place and interest connected to bogs in north Kildare. Connected by a shared interest in community and socially engaged art, the artists’ personal practices relate differently to rural Ireland, tradition and folklore. All three artists are based in communities with strong connections to bogs and turfcutting.
The project will have three phases. Developing organically, the outcome of each phase will inform the direction of the following one. The project will also explore the effects of climate change on communities past, present and future.
Phase 1 of the project proposed building an oral history archive through engagement with peatland communities in Allen, Allenwood, Ballyteague, Carbury, Coill Dubh, Lullymore, Prosperous, Rathangan, Robertstown and Ticknevin. During this phase, interviews were conducted with local people about their experiences, memories and stories relating to the bog.
Tóch I Dig’ was conceived with the intention of being an intergenerational and interdisciplinary phased project, targeting participants with either existing or new connections to the peatlands. While the focus of Phase I has been firmly rooted in the past, Phase II and III will move towards the present and then the future of the bog. These subsequent phases will engage a group of younger people and encourage a reimagining of the peatlands using the oral history archive as a starting point, leading to intergenerational discourse, interaction and a speculative future for the bog as a location of relevance to future communities. .
Sheena Malone is an artist and curator whose practice focuses on aspects of rural life, local history & folklore, in particular that of her home village of Allenwood. Her interests lie in creating projects that offer a platform for discussion & discovery through engagement with art, culture & community, & projects which broaden the scope of the exhibition beyond conventional spaces for display.
Her recent exhibition Déin Chécht’s Porridge was derived from her 2021 Culture Night commission The Kildare Folklore Pharmacy and examined the contemporary and historical practice of folk medicine in Ireland. Drawing from personal interviews & archival research, traditional plant lore was combined with magico-religious beliefs about ‘the cure’, inherited healing abilities, the concept of the bean feasa & the role of place & included textile works dyed with medicinal plants found in Irish folklore, drawings, objects & a short film on the subject of folk healers. In 2024, her film The All-Ireland Turf Footing Championships' won Best Short Documentary at the JuneFest Film Festival.
On her involvement with TÓCH I DIG
”At times, the bog seems a forgotten and unseen landscape, not traditionally visited by tourists for its beauty, somewhere incidental you drive through on your way to the next town. It was a place that was feared in folklore & in recent history a place that was plundered for its peat rather than enjoyed for its flora & fauna. Growing up in Allenwood, the bog permeated so many aspects of local life. It presided over how & where you spent your summers, where local people were employed & it guided the small talk that created community ties. The bog preserves what it swallows & many of the artefacts in the National Museum of Ireland owe their existence to its anaerobic environment. Many treasures are still to be excavated, not only archeaological objects but our project hopes to uncover the richness of the intangible cultural heritage & oral history specific to communities with strong connections to the bog. In this time of rapid transition, as we move towards more sustainable forms of energy, it is a time-sensitive endeavour before memories fade and disappear”.
Website: www.sheenamalone.com
Instagram: @sheenamalone
Pamela de Brí is a multimedia artist and Irish speaker, based in Co Kildare. Her project-based practice explores social and demographic changes in rural Ireland.She work in a variety of media: painting, printmaking, photography, and video. She has exhibited extensively in Ireland and abroad, including a solo show at Encuentro - Impact 10 International Multidiscipliary Printmaking Conference, Santander 2018.
Her most recent exhibition Ionadú – Re:Place explored themes of place: land, home, location, the placing and replacing of personal, historical and cultural marks on the landscape in both the natural and developed environment. It was shown in Ballaí Bána, Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich, (2022) Belfast and in Áras Inis Gluaire, Mayo (2021).
Her current project explores Ireland’s offshore islands.
On her involvement with TÓCH | DIG:
My connection to bogs goes back to early adolescence, footing turf on the Dublin Mountains which continued when I moved to Prosperous where I again footed turf on Ballinafagh bog. I walked this bog daily for years, recording different aspects of it, as well as witnessing the changing work practices, attitudes and eventual designation as an SAC.
I welcome this current opportunity to revisit that documentation and to develop it with people whom I know are passionate about the location, and with what connects us to the past. While the history of the bog and its relevance to the economy, past and present, has been discussed and recorded, the people who worked the bog can be forgotten. These men and women have a wealth of knowledge, tradition, stories and language associated with all aspects of the bog. This project is an opportunity to hear their voices. I look forward to exploring how these work-practices, traditions and associated heritage will resonate with and will influence the thinking and attitude of the next generations.
Website: www.pameladebri.com
Instagram: @pameladebri
Irish artist Shane Hynan (b. 1976) holds an MFA in Photography (Ulster University 2019). His practice centres on photography with experimental elements in sound, video, collage, and sculpture. The metaphorical exploration of place, land and architecture is a significant subtext throughout his work.
He draws upon conceptual, performative and subjective documentary approaches and works primarily with analogue photography processes as it enhances an emotional and intuitive connection with landscape and topography.
He’s shown his work extensively in Ireland and received multiple awards from the Arts Council, Creative Ireland and Kildare Arts. He’s exhibited internationally in China, Germany and the UK, and was shortlisted for the Royal Photographic Society IPE162, IPE163 and IPE166. In 2024 he undertook residencies at the Centre Culturel Irlandais (Paris) and Roscommon Arts Centre and was awarded both a Visual Arts Bursary and Project award from the Arts Council.
In his ongoing Beneath | Beofhód (2018-present) project Hynan reflects on the endangered bog habitats of his immediate post-industrial landscape in the Irish midlands. The work contemplates the transition in perceptions and use of peatlands and the subsequent social, environmental, economic and cultural impact on the midland’s region. Selected works will be showing in the RHA BogSkin exhibition opening January 2025 and a solo exhibition of the full body of work is planned for 2026 at Photo Museum Ireland.
Hynan is based in Kildare where he works full time developing his visual arts practice. He’s currently developing a new body of work entitled ‘Façadier’; a French word translating as facade maker. The work meditates on the facadafication of an urban landscape as a metaphor for self and society and the hidden forces and structures that lie behind it. It offers an alternative perspective on an often romanticised location and is a deeply personal body of work
On his involvement with TÓCH | DIG:
“While working on ‘Beneath | Beofhód’ I became aware of the need to highlight the voices of the people affected by recent changes in how we perceive and use bogs. The future is uncertain for many communities connected to peatlands through turf cutting or loss of employment with Bord na Móna. Although legitimate environmental concerns underpin a move towards conservation there are many who feel they will lose out. The definition of a ‘Just Transition’ is based on social, environmental and economic justice going hand in hand. For many communities this is not their experience. Through this project I’d like to give affected communities in north Kildare a voice to express their feelings about recent changes, explore their relationship with peatlands and gather the stories, experiences and memories that the bog holds for many people.”
Website: www.shanehynan.ie
Instagram:@shanehynan
