Túir Faire /Watchtowers contd.
I really was interested in the structure of these large metal ‘towers’ that commanded so much presence upon our landscape and wanted to see how and what they were made of. Soldiers lived here for months and months at a time and were cut off from the outside world. I wrote to the Ministry of Defence and asked them if they could send me a copy of an architectural drawing of a watchtower. I didn’t hold out much hope to be honest as I had seen previous letters posted online where fees of five hundred pounds were asked and of course definite ‘NO’s’. So, while I was waiting on a response, I started on some more linen boards.
I was really intrigued with the Crossmaglen Army Watchtower Golf Five Zero (G50), known to the British army as ‘Borucki Sanger’. It was such a different shape and construction of tower compared to the others. It was actually known as a ‘sangar’. The guard post was constructed in 1992 to protect British soldiers and police officers at a time when security forces could only travel to the then RUC station by helicopter.
A military building forming part of the British Army's defensive strategy to control the landscape and people of Northern Ireland and known to the British army as 'Borucki Sanger', after Private James R Borucki, 19, 3 Para, was killed here by a 5lb remote controlled bomb left on a bicycle. This watchtower dominated the landscape and became an everyday element within it.
Written by Jonathan Olley, photographer
On the linen boards I started minimising my palette and honed in more onto the linear aspects of the Crossmaglen sangar from photographs and any information I could find online. I spent hours online looking up photographers such as Jonathan Olley and asked for my Christmas present to be Donovan Wylie’s ‘The Tower Series’ set. At this stage I was living and breathing south Armagh sangars- I was now becoming officially a watchtower’ NERD’. Did you know that all the ground-based towers were called ‘Golf’ (such as Crossmaglen G50, Croslieve G40 etc.) and the towers based high on the hills and mountains were called ‘Romeo’ (Camough R13, R13A, Tievecrum R23 etc.)? Watchtower Nerd Fact
I loved these maps a good friend of mine sent me as her husband had an old book and they were a life saver to remember all the coordinates, positions and names- thanks Therese xxx
With these pieces, I have used silica salt again but in a more controlled way. The circular image is still present. As you have probably noticed that I never painted to the edges of the canvas back then. Patrick Collins always framed a painting within a painting- never taking it to the edges and it's a method that I adopted. It seems to give an ethereal, mystical feeling to work and I love to be able to see the work of the brush and the way it can move the paint about the canvas.
Once again- they seem to have that ‘other worldly’ feel about them.
This series of three were shown in the Drawn from Borders virtual show, Artlink, Fort Dunree, Donegal 2020.
