The Pilgrim from Askeaton
Tue, Sep 12 2023
Above and below: Askeaton’s Friary where the body of the Barcelona merchant lies since 1784 and cloister (below). Photos: Latitudes.
“The Pilgrim” is a pilot exchange programme linking Barcelona with southwest Ireland, Latitudes with the organisation Askeaton Contemporary Arts), and Ruth Clinton & Niamh Moriarty with Catalan artist Eulàlia Rovira. Throughout 2023, two artist residencies and a public programme enhance new artistic and curatorial research and creates new possibilities for international collaboration around ideas of pilgrimage, relics, and twinning.
“The Pilgrim”’s curatorial framework derives from an extraordinary story from over two centuries ago. It is recalled that a Barcelona merchant named Don Martínez de Mendoza, one of the wealthiest men in Catalonia during the mid-1700s, murdered his son-in-law to avenge the death of his daughter in childbirth in a Barcelona convent years before. Don Martínez ended up living his last sixteen years as a pilgrim in penance in Askeaton, Co. Limerick. A cryptic inscription can still be found in the cloister of Askeaton Friary: “Beneath lies the Pilgrim’s Body, who died January 17, 1784”.
(Above and below) Inscription of The Pilgrim at the Cloister of Askeaton Franciscan Friary, Co. Limerick, Ireland. Photos: Eulàlia Rovira and Latitudes.
Throughout the Spring of 2023, Latitudes researched documentation in the Arxiu Històric de la Ciutat de Barcelona (Casa de l'Ardiaca) with the hopes of finding evidence of Askeaton's Pilgrim, browsing certificates of docking in the Port of Barcelona, licenses of the board of health, details of boat captain promotion, health patents, and plague-free certificates. With little to no factual data on Askeaton’s Pilgrim – besides his name (Don Martínez de Mendoza), his date of death (Askeaton, 1784), that he was a Barcelona merchant from the mid-18th Century who had a flagship called Isabella, and a daughter called Beatrice (Beatriz? Beatriu?) – we weren't able to find further evidence of his existence.
In May 2023, Irish artists Ruth Clinton & Niamh Moriarty presented their work as part of their two-week residency in Barcelona alongside project co-curators Michele Horrigan and Sean Lynch from Askeaton Contemporary Arts who discussed their programme through the publications they have produced since 2006.
During Clinton & Moriarty’s May visit to Barcelona, they were considering “spaces that share a historic Catholic faith; places and relics that are similarly ‘touched by celebrity’, or a dramatic, salacious story; journeys of personal discovery ... and fallen idols” and visited Montserrat Mountain and church, Christopher Columbus’s Monument on Les Rambles; the steps where Columbus was allegedly received by the Catholic Kings in Plaça del Rei, as well as the crypt where Santa Eulàlia (the co-patron of Barcelona) is entombed in the Catedral de la Santa Creu i Santa Eulàlia.
Niamh Moriarty rubbing the steps where Columbus was allegedly received by the Catholic Kings in Plaça del Rei, Barcelona. Photo: Ruth Clinton.
In late August 2023, the second cohort of pilgrims, aka the artist Eulàlia Rovira and project co-curators Latitudes, traveled to Dublin, Sligo, Askeaton, and Limerick. The diary was filled with activities: a visit to the Irish Architecture Archive and the “bog bodies” in Dublin’s National Museum; hikes to Carrowkeel Passage Tombs in Co. Sligo; a tour of the Holycross Abbey by stonemason Philip Quinn in Co. Tipperary; a tour of The Rock of Cashel and the Ardnacrusha Power Station in Co. Clare; a visit to the Flying Boat Museum and Maritime Museum in Foynes and Anthony Sheehy’s tour of Askeaton’s former Franciscan Friary in Co. Limerick; as well as the opening events of the 40th EVA International biennial in Limerick.
Eulàlia Rovira photographing the Ardnacrusha Power Station in Co. Clare.
→ More info here
→ Photos here
→ Social Media Archive here
→ Follow: #PilgrimAskeaton
“The Pilgrim” is supported by the Irish Arts Council’s International Residency Initiatives Scheme 2022.
RELATED CONTENTS:
- Audio The Pilgrim written by Tim Kelly and read by Carl Doran. Text published in Askeaton-Balysteen Community News, Summer 1984. Voice recorded in August 2018, 24'57''
- Cover Story, September 2023: The Pilgrim in Ireland, 6 September 2023
- Cover Story, May 2023: Ruth Clinton & Niamh Moriarty in Barcelona, May 1 2023
- Presentation by Ruth Clinton & Niamh Moriarty and Askeaton Contemporary Arts around “The Pilgrim” research, 6 May 2023 at 12 pm, May 1 2023
- Latitudes’ Newsletter, February 2022
Cover Story, September 2023: The Pilgrim in Ireland
Wed, Sep 6 2023
September 2023 cover story on www.lttds.org
The September 2023 monthly Cover Story “The Pilgrim in Ireland” is now up on our homepage: www.lttds.org
“During the last two weeks of August, we traveled to Ireland alongside the artist Eulàlia Rovira as part of the second chapter of the residency exchange project The Pilgrim.” → Continue reading (after September 2023 this story will be archived here).
Cover Stories are published on a monthly basis on Latitudes’ homepage featuring past, present, or forthcoming projects, research, texts, artworks, exhibitions, films, objects, or field trips related to our curatorial projects and activities.
→ RELATED CONTENTS:
- Archive of Monthly Cover Stories
- Cover Story, July–August 2023: Honeymoon in Valencia, 1 July 2023
- Cover Story, June 2023: Crystal Bennes futures, 1 Jun 2023
- Cover Story, May 2023: Ruth Clinton & Niamh Moriarty in Barcelona, 1 May 2023
- Cover Story, April 2023: Jerónimo Hagerman (1967–2023), 1 Apr 2023
- Cover Story, March 2023: Art, Climate and New Coalitions, 1 March 2023
- Cover Story, February 2023: Soil for Future Art Histories, 2 Feb 2023
- Cover Story, January 2023: Claudia Pagès’ ‘Gerundi Circular’, 2 Jan 2023
- Cover Story, December 2022: “The Melt Goes On Forever. David Hammons and DART Festival, 1 December 2022
- Cover Story, November 2022: Jorge Satorre’s Barcelona, 1 Nov 2022
- Cover Story, October 2022: Stray Ornithologies—Laia Estruch, 3 Oct 2022
- Cover Story, September 2022: Erratic behaviour—Latitudes in conversation with Jorge Satorre, 31 August 2022
Cover Story, May 2023: Ruth Clinton & Niamh Moriarty in Barcelona
Mon, May 1 2023 
May 2023 cover story on www.lttds.org
The May 2023 monthly Cover Story is now up on our homepage: www.lttds.org
“This month Latitudes welcomes artists Ruth Clinton & Niamh Moriarty to Barcelona as part of the pilot residency exchange project The Pilgrim. Ruth & Niamh will be talking about their work in Barcelona on 6 May, alongside project co-curators Michele Horrigan and Sean Lynch of Askeaton Contemporary Arts, in an event hosted at Eulàlia Rovira’s studio.”
→ Continue reading (after May 2023 this story will be archived here).
Cover Stories are published on a monthly basis on Latitudes’ homepage featuring past, present or forthcoming projects, research, texts, artworks, exhibitions, films, objects or field trips related to our curatorial projects and activities.
→ RELATED CONTENTS:
- Archive of Monthly Cover Stories
- Cover Story, April 2023: Jerónimo Hagerman (1967–2023), 1 Apr 2023
- Cover Story, March 2023: Art, Climate and New Coalitions, 1 March 2023
- Cover Story, February 2023: Soil for Future Art Histories, 2 Feb 2023
- Cover Story, January 2023: Claudia Pagès’ ‘Gerundi Circular’, 2 Jan 2023
- Cover Story, December 2022: “The Melt Goes On Forever. David Hammons and DART Festival, 1 December 2022
- Cover Story, November 2022: Jorge Satorre’s Barcelona, 1 Nov 2022
- Cover Story, October 2022: Stray Ornithologies—Laia Estruch, 3 Oct 2022
- Cover Story, September 2021: Erratic behaviour—Latitudes in conversation with Jorge Satorre, 31 August 2021
- Cover Story, July–August 2022: Incidents (of Travel) from Seoul, 1 July 2022
- Cover Story, June 2022: Cyber-Eco-Feminist Incidents in Attica, 1 June 2022
- Cover Story, May 2022: Things Things Say in print, 2 May 2022
Presentation by Ruth Clinton & Niamh Moriarty and Askeaton Contemporary Arts around “The Pilgrim” research, 6 May 2023 at 12 pm
Thu, Apr 27 2023
Carrer Pou de la Figuera, Barcelona. Courtesy Eulàlia Rovira.
Presentation by Ruth Clinton & Niamh Moriarty and Askeaton Contemporary Arts around “The Pilgrim”
Saturday 6 May 2023, 12 pm
In English. Limited space. Reservations: info@lttds.org
Irish artists Ruth Clinton & Niamh Moriarty will present their work as part of a two-week residency in Barcelona and their approach to the extraordinary story of “The Pilgrim” (narrated here – an 18th-century Barcelona merchant who ended up living his last sixteen years in penance in the Irish town of Askeaton. They will be accompanied by the project co-curators Michele Horrigan and Sean Lynch from Askeaton Contemporary Arts who will highlight some of their recent programmes.
“The Pilgrim” is a pilot exchange programme linking Barcelona with southwest Ireland, Latitudes with the organisation Askeaton Contemporary Arts), and Ruth Clinton & Niamh Moriarty with Catalan artist Eulàlia Rovira, who hosts this event in her studio.
“The Pilgrim” is a pilot exchange programme linking Barcelona with southwest Ireland, Latitudes with the organisation Askeaton Contemporary Arts), and Ruth Clinton & Niamh Moriarty with Catalan artist Eulàlia Rovira, who hosts this event in her studio.
Illustration found during Latitudes’ research at the Arxiu Històric de la Ciutat de Barcelona (Casa de l'Ardiaca).
Throughout 2023, artist residencies and a public programme will enhance new artistic and curatorial research, and create new possibilities for international collaboration.
“The Pilgrim”’s curatorial framework derives from an extraordinary story from over two centuries ago. It is recalled that a Barcelona merchant named Don Martínez de Mendoza, one of the wealthiest men in Catalonia during the mid-1700s, murdered his son-in-law to avenge the death of his daughter in childbirth in a Barcelona convent years before. Don Martínez ended up living his last sixteen years as a pilgrim in penance in Askeaton, County Limerick. A cryptic inscription can still be found in the cloister of Askeaton Friary: “Beneath lies the Pilgrim’s Body, who died January 17, 1784”.
More info here.
Follow: #PilgrimAskeaton
“The Pilgrim” is supported by the Irish Arts Council’s International Residency Initiatives Scheme 2022.
RELATED CONTENTS:
- “The Pilgrim” in Barcelona and Askeaton, 31 Jan 2023
- Audio – "The Pilgrim" by Tim Kelly. Read by Carl Doran. Published in Askeaton-Balysteen Community News, Summer 1984, August 2018, 24'57''
- Cover Story–August 2018: Askeaton Joyride, 1 August 2018
- Residency report: Askeaton Contemporary Arts, County Limerick, Ireland, 20–29 July 2018x, 30 July 2018
“The Pilgrim” in Barcelona and Askeaton
Tue, Jan 31 2023
Left to right: Eulàlia Rovira (photo by Aníbal Parada), Ruth Clinton (photo by Colm Keating) and Niamh Moriarty (photo by Cian Flynn).
Askeaton Contemporary Arts and Latitudes are delighted to announce the launch of “The Pilgrim”, a pilot exchange programme linking the two organisations in southwest Ireland and Barcelona, respectively, and Irish artists Ruth Clinton & Niamh Moriarty with Catalan artist Eulàlia Rovira. Throughout 2023, artist residencies and a public programme will enhance new artistic and curatorial research, and create new possibilities for international collaboration.
“The Pilgrim”’s curatorial framework derives from an extraordinary story from over two centuries ago. It is recalled that a Barcelona merchant named Don Martínez de Mendoza, one of the wealthiest men in Catalonia during the mid-1700s, murdered his son-in-law to avenge the death of his daughter in childbirth in a Barcelona convent years before. Don Martínez ended up living his last sixteen years as a pilgrim in penance in Askeaton, County Limerick. A cryptic inscription can still be found in the cloister of Askeaton Friary: “Beneath lies the Pilgrim’s Body, who died January 17, 1784”.
More info here.
#PilgrimAskeaton
The Pilgrims Grave, Duffy’s Fireside Magazine, January 1853.
Since 2006, the artist-led initiative Askeaton Contemporary Arts has commissioned, produced and exhibited over a hundred contemporary art projects in County Limerick, Ireland.
Latitudes is a Barcelona-based curatorial office that works internationally across contemporary art practices. It was initiated in 2005 by Max Andrews and Mariana Cánepa Luna.
“The Pilgrim” is supported by the Irish Arts Council’s International Residency Initiatives Scheme 2022.
RELATED CONTENTS:
- Audio – "The Pilgrim" by Tim Kelly. Read by Carl Doran. Published in Askeaton-Balysteen Community News, Summer 1984, August 2018, 24'57''
- Cover Story–August 2018: Askeaton Joyride, 1 August 2018
- Residency report: Askeaton Contemporary Arts, County Limerick, Ireland, 20–29 July 2018x, 30 July 2018
Cover Story–August 2018: Askeaton Joyride
Wed, Aug 1 2018
The August 2018 Monthly Cover Story "Askeaton Joyride" is now up on Latitudes' homepage: www.lttds.org
"Strange and wonderful things happen in Askeaton—especially during each summer for the last thirteen years. Initiated by artists Michele Horrigan and Sean Lynch in 2006, the residency programme Welcome to the Neighbourhood hosts artists and curators in the midst of this small town community in County Limerick, Ireland, under the umbrella of Askeaton Contemporary Arts."
—> Continue reading
—> After August 2018 it will be archived here.
Cover Stories' are published on a monthly basis on Latitudes' homepage featuring past, present or forthcoming projects, research, texts, artworks, exhibitions, films, objects or field trips related to our curatorial activities.
RELATED CONTENT:
- Archive of Monthly Cover Stories
- Cover Story – July 2018: "No Burgers for Sale" 2 July 2018
- Cover Story—June 2018: Near-Future Artworlds Curatorial Disruption Foresight Group 4 June 2018
- Cover Story – May 2018: "Shadowing Roman Ondák" 7 May 2018
- Cover Story – April 2018: "Cover Story—April 2018: Dates, 700 BC to the present: Michael Rakowitz" 3 April 2018
- Cover Story – March 2018: "Armenia's ghost galleries" 6 March 2018
- Cover Story – February 2018: Paradise, promises and perplexities 5 February 2018
- Cover Story – January 2018: I'll be there for you, 2 January 2018
- Cover Story – December 2017: "Tabet's Tapline trajectory", 4 December 2017
- Cover Story – November 2017: "Mining negative monuments: Ângela Ferreira, Stone Free, and The Return of the Earth", 1 November 2017
- Cover Story – October 2017: Geologic Time at Stanley Glacier 11 October 2017
- Cover Story – September 2017: Dark Disruption. David Mutiloa's 'Synthesis' 1 September 2017
- Cover Story – August 2017: Walden 7; or, life in Sant Just Desvern 1 August 2017
- Cover Story – July 2017: 4.543 billion 3 July 2017
- Cover Story – June 2017: Month Light–Absent Forms 1 June 2017
- Cover Story – May 2017: S is for Shale, or Stuart; W is for Waterfall, or Whipps 1 May 2017
- Cover Story – April 2017: Banff Geologic Time 3 April 2017
- Cover Story – March 2017: Time travel with Jordan Wolfson 1 March 2017
Residency: Askeaton Contemporary Arts, County Limerick, Ireland, 20–29 July 2018
Mon, Jul 30 2018
The annual residency programme ‘Welcome to the Neighbourhood’ curated by Askeaton Contemporary Art's director Michele Horrigan has situated Irish and international artists in the midst of Askeaton, a small town in County Limerick since its conception in 2006. Over one hundred artist's projects have been realised in public spaces throughout the town, bringing forward layers of daily life and creating a rich framework for encounters.
In its thirteenth year, the 2018 edition of ‘Welcome to the Neighbourhood’ invited artists Matt Calderwood, Jonny Lyons, Ruth Clinton and Niamh Moriarty, and curators Gareth Bell-Jones (Flat Time House, London) and Latitudes.
Latitudes arrived at Askeaton on the 20th, following a short stint in Dublin's The LAB Gallery where they participated in a closed-door seminar in the context of the exhibition ‘I Slept Like A Stone’ curated by Sheena Barrett and Julia Moustacchi.
Banqueting Hall next to Desmond Castle is also under restoration.
Tour by the OPW workers restoring Desmond Castle.
"Glasgow-based artist Jonny Lyons debuts a new installation, Joyride, at Askeaton Community Hall. Impressed by the rhythm and assured style of card playing he encountered in Askeaton, his artwork was realised in collaboration with local card sharks William Sheehan, James and Antoinette Fitzgerald, and Noel McCarthy. Surreally they appeared unannounced early one morning at high tide in the middle of the River Deel, playing the trick-taking card game of forty-fives that originated in Ireland on a specially constructed pontoon." [Text by Askeaton Contemporary Arts]
“Dublin and Sligo-based artists Ruth Clinton and Niamh Moriarty are known for their intense sensitivity to microhistories and the local. In recent days they have uncovered the story of Hollywood star Kiefer Sutherland’s visit to Askeaton, soon after being dumped by Julia Roberts days before their planned wedding in 1990. A 24-year-old Sutherland ended up in the west of Ireland where, in his own words, he was going to “try have a drink in every town I passed through.” Clinton and Moriarty’s artwork acts as a form of fan fiction, a stream of consciousness spread throughout the rooms of Cagney’s Bar and Ranahan’s Pub. A lino print and video accompany a photograph of Sutherland partying in Askeaton, while the artists perform an intimate scripted theatrical performance in the snug of Ranahan’s at 3.15pm and 5pm respectively.” [Text by Askeaton Contemporary Arts]
It's been grand!
RELATED CONTENT:
The programme began on July 14 and wrapped up on July 28th with an Open Day where the artists-in-residence unveiled the works they had produced.
 |
| 2018 programme. |
"Many public events have occurred during Welcome to the Neighbourhood, each introducing new perspectives to the role and purpose of contemporary art and knowledge production in the Limerick region. Public talks by Gareth Bell-Jones (Flat Time House, London), Latitudes, Patrick Comerford and Karin Dubsky (Coastwatch Europe) explored topics from contemporary curating practice to El Greco and marine ecology. Carl Doran’s ongoing collaborative work with Askeaton Castle’s conservation theme was showcased, while Anthony Sheehy led tours of Askeaton’s medieval heritage." [Text by Askeaton Contemporary Arts]
Artist and "Welcome to the neighbourhood" mastermind curator Michele Horrigan in Desmond Castle.
Artist Sean Lynch talking about the previous editions of "Welcome to the neighbourhood".
Sunday BBQ with ACA family. Rory Prout (left) and 2018 "Welcome to the neighbourhood" artist Matt Calderwood (right).
Local guide Anthony Sheehy has led tours around Askeaton since 1964.
(Above and below) Visiting the RUSAL Aughinish alumina plant near Askeaton.
Picnic site on our way to Lismore Castle.
2018 "Welcome to the neighbourhood" artist Niamh Moriarty and ACA Assistant Curator, Jessica Kelly.
(Above and below) Visiting Lismore castle’s impressive gardens.
Detail of Stuart Whipps's work included in "The Expanded Field" exhibition co-curated by Lismore Castle Arts and Askeaton Contemporary Arts at the St Carthage Hall, Lismore, which also presents work by The Center for Land Use Interpretation, Olivia Plender, The Domestic Godless, Superfolk and Filip Van Dingenen.
(Above and below) The Grange Stone circle, the largest stone circle in Ireland, was built by the Bronze Age people who lived around Lough Gur in 2100 BC.
Enchanting studio visit with local legend and stick-maker Seanie Barron.
View of Desmond Castle from the top floor of the Civic Trust.
As we later learn, these two rectangular columns in Askeaton's Friary contained a much-hunted treasure. It became the spur for Latitudes' research in the links between Barcelona and Askeaton. To be continued...
In "The Pilgrim", Latitudes reprised a 1984 article written by Tim Kelly in the back issues of The ABC News, Askeaton’s annual journal. Made available online and through social media platforms, an excerpt was heard at the Franciscan friary, of a dramatic narrative bringing to life a cryptic inscription found in the cloister there that reads "Beneath lies the Pilgrim's body, who died January 17, 1784". The story is read aloud by artist Carl Doran. The tale involves an Italian, a Spaniard, and a morbid blood hunt that links Barcelona with Askeaton.
Hear more at https://soundcloud.com/lttds/the-pilgrim
Cloister in the Franciscan friary.
Ray Griffin's magic hands fabricating Matt Calderwood's boat.
Matt's first rehearsal, testing the oars on the River Deel.
Ray and Matt carrying the boulder to the water.
"London-based artist Matt Calderwood’s installation Erractic (Approximately 4.5 Tonnes) can be seen floating on the River Deel. With a healthy interest in what the artist describes as the “non-expert production of things”, Calderwood without any prior experience, guidance or clear blueprints, constructed his own boat, and vigorously rowed it up and down the Deel. On Open Day, it is seen on the river with what appears to be an enormous rock inside it. The longer you look at this apparition, the more uncomfortable its appearance becomes as if the boat and stone were a tangential echo or parallel universe of the stone buildings and maritime traditions of the region. In addition, a series of large-scale prints detail a selection of Askeaton stones, some real, some not, seen in various locations throughout the town." [Text by Askeaton Contemporary Arts]
Matt floatin’ out on the River Deel. He sails off accompanied by two show-dog Rottweilers (they are not part of the work!).
Matt Calderwood and rock on the River Deel in front of Askeaton's 14th Century Franciscan Friary.
(Making of) Jonny Lyons’s "Joyride" during the morning high tide at the River Deel.
Players signing two joker cards.
On Saturday 28 July, the Open Day, over 50 guests joined the tour which took off from Askeaton's Civic Trust.
Matt Calderwood's boat made a new apparition upstream for the Open Day.
Calderwood displayed some large prints at a former hair salon. Below Calderwood discusses his work with Sean Lynch.
Jonny Lyons's new installation, Joyride, at Askeaton Community Hall. Featured in Latitudes' August 2018 Monthly Cover Story (after August it will be archived here).
A paparazzi moment with the artist and the card players. Below Lyons's installation presents the table borrowed from Ranahan's pub on the pontoon, alongside a fresh Guinness pint, two signed joker cards and the 7 of hearts – the card that blew away during the making of.
Ruth and Niamh reenact the small photograph on the upper left which can be found at Cagney’s Bar – featuring two local women aside from a broken-hearted Kiefer Sutherland (here brought to life by artist Jonny Lyons).
It's been grand!
RELATED CONTENT:
- Residents, ‘Welcome to the Neighbourhood’, Askeaton Contemporary Arts, Askeaton, Ireland, 20–29 July 2018.
- Research residency, CAPC musée d’art contemporain de Bordeaux, April–May 2016.
- Residency, Kadist Art Foundation, San Francisco, 26 August–9 September 2015.
- Visiting Curator Program, Gertrude Contemporary, Melbourne, 12 May–7 June 2014.
- Residency, Spring Workshop, Hong Kong. Invited by Heman Chong and Defne Ayas in the context of the year-long programme Moderation(s) between Witte de With (Rotterdam) and Spring Workshop (Hong Kong), 7 January–10 February 2013.
- Deutsche Börse Residency Programme, Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt. Invited by Chus Martínez, August 2008.