Darragh Hickey
Through my practice I’ve been searching for remnants of my own past and the Dublin I remember, while also trying to give a voice to those who’ve been left behind by the city's constant growth and re-development. When I moved home to Ireland after the pandemic, I found it was impossible to find any accommodation in the city for less than a month’s income. As a result, I ended up staying with my parents down the countryside for much longer than I had originally planned – it’s now been two years in total. During this time, I found that my experiences and the conflicts and dynamics that arose from them has influenced much of my work.
I Used To Be Able To See The Mountains
My name it is Sean Dempsey as Dublin as could be
Born hard and late in Pimlico in a house that ceased to be
My trade I was a cooper, lost out to redundancy
Like my house that fell to progress my trade's a memory
The years have made me bitter, the gargle dims me brain
'Cause Dublin keeps on changing and nothing seems the same.
The Pillar and the Met have gone, the Royal long since pulled down
As the grey unyielding concrete makes a city of my Town.
Fare thee well sweet Anna Liffey, I can no longer stay,
And watch the new glass cages, that spring up along the quay,
My mind's too full of memories, to old to hear new chimes,
I'm a part of what was Dublin, in the Rare Oul Times.
-Pete St. John & The Dubliners [1979]
Making a City of My Town
In January 2023 I climbed on some hoarding at 57 Cork Street in Dublin to take some photos of two JCBs on a mountain of rubble. The demolished buildings left a gash in the street's elevation where Paddy Whelan’s shop and the Cork St. boxing club once stood. These were the last of the old non-residential buildings on the street. They had old signs and facades that I loved. It affected me that they were gone.I resented the new architectural form that was spreading across the area. I found it repetitive and boring; it’s almost as if it’s all been chosen from the same brochure. 'Making a City of My Town' aims to capture this transition and contrast the old with the new.