Kildare people urged to "keep discovering" in new staycation campaign by Fáilte Ireland

Measuring wider than the height of Dublin’s Liberty Hall, at 120ft in height and 200 ft wide, the unique piece of art, by environmental artist Sean Corcoran, was created by hand on Kilmurrin Cove in Co. Waterford to rally the nation to get out and explore all that Ireland has to offer as part of Fáilte Ireland’s ‘Keep Discovering’ campaign.

After a long period of lockdown, business closures and restriction on people’s movements, the art was created to draw a literal line in the sand on the past number of months, welcome the summer, and encourage people to get out and remember the joy of exploring Ireland this summer.

Artist Sean Corcoran said after completing the sand art; “That was so much fun. I’ve been creating environmental artwork for many years, but after such a long time under restrictions it was wonderful to get out on my local beach again and do what I love.  I had my own little self-discovery today creating this very integrated piece, discovering different locations across the country as I drew them. We started by going up the east coast and going across to the Wild Atlantic Way, creating the outline of the country and then crafting the iconic images one associates with Ireland. While it was nice to visit them in my head, I can’t wait to get out and experience all that Ireland has to offer in person this summer.”

Caoimhe Ní Dhuibhinn, Acting Head of Marketing, Fáilte Ireland commented; “We wanted to mark the next stage of the reopening of the tourism and hospitality sectors and Sean’s sand art is a fantastic expression of how much there is to discover in Ireland. Fáilte Ireland’s Keep Discovering campaign will run until the end of the year to encourage people to take a break in Ireland this year. We have lots of activity planned over the next number of months to remind more Irish people to discover the joy of holidaying in Ireland as they begin to reconnect with each other."

Fáilte Ireland’s ‘Keep Discovering’ campaign aims to drive domestic holidays for the remainder of the year and help to reboot and rebuild Ireland’s tourism industry. Visit DiscoverIreland.ie to be inspired and plan their own staycation.

·       The Keep Discovering  sand art was created entirely by hand by environmental artist Sean Corcoran on Kilmurrin Cobh, Co. Waterford. 

·       The creation was made by hand and measured by the artists eye and outlined with bamboo sticks. 

·       The beach sand had to be dried after several days of heavy rain by using a complex system of manmade drains to release water from the beach sand and redirect ground water out to sea. This was done using a V shaped agricultural tool used for planting potatoes and other crops. The process took an hour to reduce ground water and create the perfect conditions for the sand art. 

·       Taking six hours to create, the map of Ireland with symbolic iconography and Keep Discovering wording measures an impressive 120 feet in height and 200 feet wide. That’s equivalent to: 

o   11 stories in height 

o   Measuring 200 feet wide, the sand art is wider than Dublin’s Liberty Hall is tall https://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Liberty_Hall  

·       To capture the size and scale of the creation, two teams of photographers and videographers used a series of cameras to document the process. 

·       Airspace clearance had to be granted for drones to fly 400 feet above the beach to capture the art in all its majesty.