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Return to Co. Kerry list |
Go to Prehistoric Alignments & Dials |
Go to Ancient Monastic Dials |
Go to Medieval Dials |
Go to Modern (1600+) Dials |
Go to Sundial Info.and Books |
An tÁrthach Dána [The Daring Vessel] Sundial |
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Early in 2019 under the ‘Per Cent for Art’ scheme, a government initiative wereby 1% of the cost of any publicly funded capital infrastructural and building development, can be allocated to the commissioning of a work of art, the Kerry County Council to mark the completion of the Waterville Water Scheme advertised for ...submissions are invited from artists for an art sculpture/ installation piece that would tell the story of the arrival at Ballinskelligs Bay of Amergin and the first Gaelic peoples to Ireland from Northern Spain, possibly referring to or recounting the Song of Amergin from ‘Lebor Gabála Érenn’ or similar references... Holger C. Lὃnze's 'Daring Vessel’sundial sculpture was successful and was awarded the commission. His 6.4 metre high repoussé bronze sundial gnomon is a tribute to Amergin and the mythological Milesian seafarers from Galicia in Northern Spain, who, according to legend, brought the Gaeilge language to Ireland. The gnomon sculpture forms the focal point of the monument and takes the form of the emerging prow of a boat breaking upwards through the Atlantic waves, which rises, tapering as it elongates, and turns into the beak of a gannet. |
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The ‘Song of Amergin’, in modern Irish, is laser-cut into a 12 metre long strip of bronze, set into the low wall behind the sculpture and back-lit with LED lighting. Mé gaoth ar muir [I am the wind on the sea] Mé tonn díleann [I am a swelling wave] Mé glór mara [I am the ocean’s voice] Mé damh seacht gcomhrac [I am a stag of seven combats] Mé fiolar ar fhaill [I am a hawk upon a cliff] Mé deor drúchta faoin ngréin [I am a sunlit dewdrop] Mé áilleacht fáis [I am fair] Mé torc ar ghail [I am boar enraged] Mé bradán sa linn [I am a salmon in a pool] Mé loch ar mhá [I am a lake in a plain] Mé dún sléibhe [I am a fortified hilltop] Mé suí eagna [I am learning’s essence] Mé ga faoi bhua ag slaí sa chath [I am a sharpened spear dealing death] Mé dia… [I am a god …] …Cé a adhnann tine sa cheann[…who kindles fire in the head] …Cé a dheineann réidh clochán sléibhe [...who makes smooth the stony mountain] …Cé a chaitheann solas ar chruthanna na gealaí cai [...who elucidates the ages of the moon] …Cé fhógraíonn cá luífidh an ghrian [...who proclaims where the sun will rest] …Cé a threoraíonn na tonnta mar bha na mara […who leads the waves like cattle from the ocean] …Cé air a shoilsíonn na tonnta sin […who is it on whom those waves smile] …Cen dream, cén dia a dheineann faobhar i ndún ailse. […what group, what god edges blades in a plague-struck fortress] Caoineadh na nga … Caoineadh na gaoithe [Lament of the weapons ... Lament of the wind]. |
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The song is also included in English, Modern Irish and German on the nearby information plaque. see https://www.holgerlonze.info/waterville, |
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The gnomon’s shadow moves across the bronze hour-lines, marked with Roman numerals and the 10 minute divisions marked by the white joints of the outer black tile ring, in the large beach-like semi-circle. On any day when the sun reaches its highest point above the horizon it is noon at all places along the same North/South line of longitude. It follows that at that instant, in places to the east of the dial, noon has already passed, and in places to the west, noon has not yet arrived. There is one hour of time difference for every 15 degrees of longitude difference. Waterville is 10 degrees of longitude west of the Greenwich London Observatory (on which Irish Mean Time is based), which is equal to 40 minutes of time. When it is 12:00 noon sun time at Waterville it is 12:40pm sun time at Greenwich. The Waterville sundial hour lines have been realigned so that when its solar noon at Waterville the dial shows 12:40pm so as to approximate clock time. During the summer when clocks are set one hour ‘on’ another hour should be added to the time indicated on the dial. For more information on the difference between sundial time and clock time see my webpage at https://www.sundials-ireland.com/links.htm |
All above photos by kind permission of the sculptor |
The team who brought this project to fruition included: Art Sculpture Brief: Kerry County Council Sundial Concept and Sculptor: Holger C. Lὃnze D.Phil. MRBS http://www.holgerlonze.com Hourline Angle Calculations and Gnomon Alignment also by Holger Project Manager: John O’Connor Area Engineer: Michael Kelleher Structural Engineers: Horganlynch, Cork; Donal Lynch, Tadgh Crowley Assistance: Karen Hendy Historic Advisors: Paddy Bushe; Prof. John Carey, UCC; Breandán Ó Ciobháin Site Foreman: PJ Fitzgerald Site Team: Michael O’Sullivan, Connie O’Sullivan; Nicholas Browne Electrician: John Collins Installation: Adrian Brennan Waterjet Cutting: Aquadesign Ltd., Killorglin The workers of: MacKneill Tarmacadam Contractors Ltd., Glenbeigh The workers of: Premier Paving, Thurles |