Saving Pirate Ryan - sand sculpture

As an Island nation, Ireland has had some interesting pirate figures throughout its history. I made a sculpture about Grace O'malley/ Gráinne Ní Mháille many years ago. She was a female pirate that earned the title The Pirate Queen as she reeked havoc at home and abroad. We also had Annie Bonny that sailed with Calico Jack around the Caribbean. These were some furious sea maidens. But, not to be outdone and because Ireland is an equal opportunities employer we also had a few male ones. Jack the Batchelor was a famed smuggler and Luke Ryan a pirate that came from the village of Rush, North County Dublin. They didn't know each other but it really seemed that this Little village was a good base for getting up to no good on the open seas. It was here that I was asked to make two sculptures for a small village festival so the naughtycal [Sic] seamen seemed to be a good subject matter to work on.

I was originally commissioned to make two pieces over the course of a week and was really looking forward to it. I would start with Jack the Bachelor on Monday and be working away creating a buzz about the place for the village festival which would be happening over the next weekend. I would then spend a few days making Luke Ryan.

False start

All was organised, or so I thought until I was asked about my insurance. I didn't have any at the time because I just wasn't doing enough work in Ireland to justify it. Insurance is a protection racket and I hate having to fork out money to these modern-day pirates but I was told that I had to have some and after ringing lots of places finally found one that would take me on. They found it funny that I wanted to insure a pile of sand but were more than happy to take my money, God bless them.

I was then all ready to go, sand truck and machinery were ordered. Then I got a phonecall, last minute to say that there had been an injunction put in place to stop me and the whole festival from happening by some of the locals because they didn't want extra traffic in their village.

I had to cancel everything which was quite difficult to do of a Sunday. Things were put on hold while the town council and locals fought things out. I was pissed as I had put a lot of energy and money into organising everything and I would be out of pocket.

Waiting room

Each day that week I would get a call saying that things were still on hold until finally Thursday when I was told I could make one sculpture in a playground in the center of the village. I sprang straight into action and started work on Friday morning. It really wouldn't give me much time but I wanted to try and keep the village council happy and see if I could redeem some of my expenses.

I ended up just doing the one piece and that was Luke Ryan.

Jack Ryan in a nutshell

Luke, was born in Rush in 1750 but travelled to France at an early age where he became a lieutenant in the Dillion's Irish Regiment. He returned to Rush and ran a smuggling operation between Ireland and France. During the American war of independence, he became the captain of the Black fleet which was a pirate army under the secret orders of one Benjamin Franklin to bring war to the British in their home waters. We all know how that turned out and Luke is one of the forgotten heroes of that war. Do some Bing, Google or Altavista searches if you want more info, as I am no historian.

I finished compacting on Friday evening. It took ages because I had to wheelbarrow the sand to the sculpture due to a fence being in my way. I grinned and bore it because I was happy to be making something.

Walking the plank

Finally, I had two days to make my sculpture, during the festival itself and it was Bethlem. I was right in the middle of everything with kids everywhere. I made a little sand pile for them to play in to try and keep them away from my sculpture but it was like a game of wack-a-mole as I tried to keep toddlers from climbing up on my work. It turned out I was happy I had insurance in case any of them got hurt. Their parents seemed happy to use me as free child care but I wasn't.

In the heel o'da hunt things worked out ok. Although very rushed I produced this pirate standing in the bow of his ship. The children had a great time and really felt like they were helping create it. What started as scuppard project was able to regain the waves. The council was also very happy with my patience and insisted that they pay me the full amount which I quoted for. Making this a very lucrative job in the end. If you ever find yourself on these shores Rush beach is my favourite around Dublin. Nice a quiet and clean water for swimming.

Ps

Thanks for reading. I use PeakD to document my work as an ephemeral Sculptor of sand, snow and ice, amongst other things. This will hopefully give it a new life on the Hive Blockchain. Below you will find some of my recent posts.