Irish Sky Garden: James Turrell's Crater
Cork, Ireland
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200
XP
1 day
Irish Sky Garden: James Turrell's Crater
200 XP
At Liss Ard Estate outside Skibbereen in west Cork, American artist James Turrell built a land art installation in the 1990s: an oval grass crater 25 metres wide. At the bottom of the crater is a granite plinth built for two, lying foot to foot with your head on a carved rest, looking up at an oval of sky framed by the grass banks. The installation is designed so that the sky appears closer than it is — a perceptual illusion created by the shape of the crater and the horizon of the rim.
Required Activities
1
of 4
Lie back on the granite plinth at the centre of the crater, head on the carved rest, and look straight up — the oval of sky reads as though it were level with the grass rim, and it works best at dawn and dusk
2
of 4
Walk the crater rim and look down at the plinth — the bowl was cut out of the hillside and the slopes graded to the inch
3
of 4
Walk to Lough Abisdealy and find Lios Ard, the high fort the estate is named after, two thousand years older than the artwork
4
of 4
Drive the 3km into Skibbereen for the Heritage Centre — this district had some of the highest Famine mortality in the country, and the mass graves are close by
Lie back on the granite plinth at the centre of the crater, head on the carved rest, and look straight up — the oval of sky reads as though it were level with the grass rim, and it works best at dawn and dusk
Walk the crater rim and look down at the plinth — the bowl was cut out of the hillside and the slopes graded to the inch
Walk to Lough Abisdealy and find Lios Ard, the high fort the estate is named after, two thousand years older than the artwork
Drive the 3km into Skibbereen for the Heritage Centre — this district had some of the highest Famine mortality in the country, and the mass graves are close by
Before you go
Liss Ard is a private estate, now let mainly for exclusive hire; contact the estate to confirm access to the Sky Garden before you travel.
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XP Breakdown
Challenge XP
200 XP
Potential total
200 XP
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