A new art installation has been erected at the historic Island of Geese site in Tralee town centre.
The artwork, by sculptor Graham Reid, is titled ‘Flight & Industry’ and is a large-scale laser-cut steel panel, placed on the exterior wall of the amphitheatre and adjacent to the historic chimney from the former bacon factory.
The idea of the installation, is to acknowledge the rich history and heritage of the site, and its role in the commercial and social life of the town.
This new artwork acknowledges the site's layered history as Tralee’s 'Pork Butchers Quarter', while also recognising its current regeneration as a community and social hub.
The Island of Geese was a busy centre of trade, craft, and industry for hundreds of years.
In an Ordnance Survey map dating from 1878, it's identified as a ‘pork shambles’, an archaic term for a butcher-shop, testifying to a history of pork-manufacturing which existed long before the establishment of Slattery’s Bacon Factory in 1922.
In 1943, Slattery’s Bacon Factory was purchased by the Denny Company and in 1982, it was acquired by Kerry Group which gifted the site to the people of Tralee in 2014.
The ‘Flight and Industry’ installation was commissioned under the Percent for Arts Scheme and is part of the overall €3.65m investment in the site by Kerry County Council, the European Regional Development Fund, the National Transport Authority and the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport.
It was unveiled this week by Mayor of Tralee, Cllr Terry O’Brien,
