A new sign now marks the completion of the artwork which is visble to motorists and pedestrians accessing the Cartron area and Rosses Point.
Those in attendance included the Cathaoirleach of Sligo County Council, Councillor Dónal Gilroy, Cllr Ann Higgins, Cllr Arthur Gibbons, Cllr Tom MacSharry, Senator Nessa Cosgrove (Labour Party spokesperson on Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht; Workers’ Rights), County Librarian Mr Dónal Tinney, and Glenn Gannon, Sligo County Council’s Assistant Arts Officer.
‘Suppose an Outcrop’ was commissioned by the County Council under the Per Cent for Art Scheme, funded by the Department of Transport (Transport Infrastructure Ireland) and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, with additional support from Sligo Tidy Towns.
The photocall marked the final stage in closing out the commission, with the installation of a new sign featuring the artwork’s title, artist’s name, and commissioning details – acknowledging the partners involved and celebrating the artwork’s completion.
The stainless-steel sculpture, officially opened in January 2022 by the then Mayor of Sligo Municipal District, Cllr Arthur Gibbons, is inspired by Sligo’s landscape and geology, reinterpreting the idea of a rock outcrop in steel and combining craft, imagination, and a strong sense of place.
Recent workshops with pupils from St Brendan’s National School and St Edward’s National School encouraged students to sketch and interpret the artwork in the context of the surrounding landscape, including the view of Knocknarea beyond.
Eilis O’Connell RHA was born in Derry and studied sculpture at the Crawford School of Art, Cork, and the Massachusetts College of Art, Boston.
She was later awarded research fellowships at The British School at Rome and P.S.1 in New York, and a two-year residency at Delfina Studios, London, before returning to live and work in Ireland.
O’Connell has exhibited at the Venice, Paris and São Paulo Biennales, and her small sculptures have been shown at the Guggenheim Museum in Venice.
Her outdoor works are permanently sited in locations across Ireland and the UK—including London, Cardiff, Bristol, Belfast and Cork—as well as in private collections in France and Spain.
A founder director of the National Sculpture Factory in Cork and a former member of the Arts Council of Ireland, she is also a member of Aosdána and the Royal Hibernian Academy.
About Suppose an Outcrop invites imagination: “suppose” hints that what we see may be more than meets the eye.
An “outcrop” refers to a natural rock formation, and O’Connell has created a bold, man-made version in steel.
Inspired by Sligo’s dramatic geology, particularly formations such as Benbulben, the sculpture reimagines nature in a geometric, fabricated form.
Though stainless steel is often associated with industry, O’Connell’s hand-crafted approach brings warmth, texture and individuality.
The work reveals the artist’s process—visible joins, woven cable, and open spaces that let light and air through.
O’Connell often explores mathematical patterns in nature and uses materials she has collected and reshaped over many years.
The curved top section of Suppose an Outcrop was made using steel pieces originally formed on an old wheel-making machine she discovered in London, continuing her practice of transforming salvaged material into poetic sculptural forms.