a case for dreaming

residency at The Curfew Tower, Cushendall,
Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland

a very long sideways glance.. pic by Mac Dunlop
during our 2 week residency in the heart of the Glens.

Cushendall (Bun Abhann Dalla: ‘foot of the River Dall’) lies where three glens – Glenaan, Glenballyemon and Glencorp meet. It is known locally as the capital of the Glens.

context:
TURNLY’S TOWER
The Curfew Tower, 1 Mill Street, Cushendall, Co Antrim

This tower was built in the early years of the nineteenth century by the local land owner, John Turnly. Although there are various stories giving reasons why it was built, it seems most likely that it was simply a folly or eyecatcher at the centre of the village.

The building was apparently ‘the great object of Mr Turnly’s thoughts,’ and was erected ‘as a place of confinement for idlers and rioters’.

The Tower was restored in 1992-93 by the Hearth Revolving Fund  and sold on completion to Bill Drummond, who has since set up ‘In You We Trust’ offering short-term residencies for artists in the Tower.

‘The Curfew Tower is a fortified building built in the early years of the nineteenth century. It has five floors, one room on each floor; from the ground up; dungeon, bathroom, living room, bedroom, bedroom. There is a kitchen adjoining the back of the tower. The tower has all modern conveniences.
The accommodation allows for no more than
two artists in residence at any one time.’

penkiln burn

processing..

having settled in, walked the Glens, frequented Johnny Joes, chatted to locals – we thought we might open the heavy door at Curfew every eve & invite ‘the idlers’ in..

first thing was to fix the bell (which we did) & then to try opening the door on to the street. After struggling for quite some time to turn the lock, with no success. we made enquiries .. Hugh McAteer next door, custodian of the tower, thought the huge key might be ornamental.

that night I dreamt friends were waiting for me while I went to buy supplies, I didn’t have enough money to pay so gave the shopkeeper a key & found myself with family crossing the Sea of Moyle. Ahead lay the Mull of Kintyre (which is visible from the Glens), foamy waves rose as high as the cliffs. The sea was mirror glass, we walked over it toward a huge rock formation – giant shelves which contained tablets of stone – a library.

The locals we met, stories we heard, places we were taken to … the Mass Rock and the Giants Causeway, inscribed a waking dream  embroidering and embroiling* each day. The Tower was cold in the wee hours – the pile of thin grey blankets available for bedding resident artists was modest… there was a thin white line someone had drawn on the dark blue ceiling, there were turf fires, local whiskey and Charlies’ songs..

‘a case for dreaming’ was born..

a suitcase covered with Irish Linen, image: Mass Rock

contents: pillow, duvet, glass, bottle of Bushmills, candelabra, candles, cd player & cd.

instructions:
HAVE A BATH,
LIGHT THE CANDLES,
DRINK A WEE BUSHMILLS
LISTEN TO CHARLIE Mc DONNELL,
SLEEP WELL & DREAM

*a phrase in the info for the Tower residency had left a visual resonance ‘a long term objective is to create a collection of interesting and diverse work that embroiders and embroils every inch of the interior of the tower, while leaving its structure intact and external appearance untouched’

Charlie McDonnell

Charlie lives beside Tiveragh Hill with his brother on their family farm. He is one of few locals that know the old songs of the Glens, he says ‘singing for him is like prayer’, he works long days on the farm and spends many an evening at Johnny Joes.

singing in his front room

a fairy thorn grows on his land…

‘Solitary hawthorn trees, often known as fairy or gentry thorns, skeaghs or lone bushes, are said never to have been planted but to have grown of their own accord. They are most often found in the middle of fields and also around ancient monuments and holy wells.

‘Glens folk will tell you that the main haunts of the ‘wee folk’ – the ‘gentle’ (supernatural) places – are Lurigethan mountain and Tiveragh Hill. Mischievous creatures at the best of times, the fairies are said to take devastating revenge on anyone rash enough to cut down a fairy thorn.’  the hawthorn in folklore

pillow & duvet..

inscribed with conversations, images, stories, poems collected in & around Cushendall…

.. to be revisited, reworked and embroidered

detail

log book

a heavy leatherbound book with thick handmade paper pages awaits every artists’ input… a source of information, journeys and explorations.

3.7.04

it’s 4.38am & in 5 hours it will be time to leave. it’s been an eventful couple of weeks..

it all started with wanting to open the door of the Tower at 9pm (curfew) every night and invite the people of Cushendall to come in & ‘loiter’ but we couldn’t get the key to work.

Today the ladies from ‘Vincents’ who gave me the Irish Linen, came over to see the ‘case for dreaming’ and look around the Tower. They wanted to see the dungeon, we stood against the door & just as I was telling them about the curfew idea & key problem, the door… opened.

before going out earlier this evening, we relocked the door & tried it again several times, it wouldn’t re-open.

By the time we’d done our farewell visits to Johnny Joes & Oliver at Central Bar – our ‘door’ story, in true spirit of the Glens, was happily ensconsed among the many tales of Turnly’s Tower in Cushendall.

for further information see PDF(s):

Logbook (108KB)

a case for dreaming