Welcome to the Neighbourhood

Latitudes participated in the 13th annual residency programme ‘Welcome to the Neighbourhood’ in Askeaton, Ireland, led by curator and artist Michele Horrigan of Askeaton Contemporary Arts. Each year Irish and international artists and curators spend time and respond to this small town situated on the Deel River in County Limerick. The 2018 programme involved artists Matt Calderwood, Jonny Lyons, Ruth Clinton and Niamh Moriarty, and curator Gareth Bell-Jones.

Latitudes’ contribution was triggered by a clue which led to an unexpected connection between Barcelona and Askeaton. Written in stone at the cloister of the Franciscan friary reads: “Here lies the Pilgrim’s body, who died January 17, 1784”. This became a starting point rather than a conclusion. A textual splinter that is now pointing us towards future research around the navigators, pirates, traders, religions, and economies which linked Ireland with the Atlantic and western-Mediterranean sea-lanes during the last centuries. Carl Doran narrates the write-up from the 1984 ABC News, the town’s annual journal. The Pilgrim tells of young love, clandestine marriage, and a blood-hunt that led a merchant from Barcelona to live out his days in penance in Askeaton.