Cork artist's exhibition remembers those forgotten on Spike Island

SINÉAD Barrett’s current exhibition on Spike Island, Echoes of Isolation, explores the isolated lives of convicts in the 19th century.

The focus of the solo exhibition is specific, spanning the years 1847-1883, when the island was a convict depot and prison, at the time of the Great Famine.

The result of a six-month residency, the work depicts the contrasting beauty and hardship of the place.

“There’s actually a telling quote form a visiting Bishop at the time, who made the remark that the island was too beautiful for pickpockets and thieves,” said Sinéad.

Spike Island is certainly beautiful, boasting stunning harbour views and a wonderfully informative museum. But the dark history of the place is undeniable. It is this rich history that fascinates the Cork-based visual artist and Programme Coordinator of Sample Studios.

“I think the exhibition is still family friendly. I look at the hardship of isolation but my intention is to explore a convict’s hope for the future too. This was during the famine. 

The convicts were being fed here, when a lack of food had imprisoned them. Many would have gone on to Australia or America or the Caribbean Island. That hopefulness is there.

Many would have emigrated, but not all, says the artist.

“Approximately 1,200 convicts died during this time period. The deaths happened for a variety of reasons. There were some suicides and there would have been injuries from the hard labour.

“These men would have done a lot of work on Hawlbowline. The prison was often overcrowded too. Solitary confinement would have been the norm also, which could have devastating effects.”

The island’s history is vast. It once held prisoners for Cromwell as far back as the 1600s, but Sinéad became particularly interested in this convict period when she found gravestones on the island.

“I went to the cemetery and found there were still graves there. Most of it had been excavated but there were nine gravestones still leaning against the wall. They had initials and prisoner numbers. I wanted to give a voice or some expression to those people.”

Her thought-provoking showcase, the second collaboration between Spike Island and Sample Studios, certainly allows us to delve deeper into the psychology of the convicts’ experience. There are also obvious parallels to the recent Covid crisis. In this sense, her work sheds a light on the historical context of isolation on Spike Island, while also encouraging contemplation on the profound implications of isolation in today’s society.

“I have been interested in maritime themes for a while, but I think Covid also played a part. So many of us were isolated and locked up over Covid. I wanted to represent some of the hardship people go through in such isolation. In these prison cells, all you can see is a blue sky and the stone walls. All you can hear are the birds. I imagine people lived in their memories a lot, maybe thought about what was lost and also thought about their futures.”

An excavation really brought the convicts to life for the artist.

They excavated the site and found dominoes, chess pieces, and rosary beads. The objects really resonated with me. I thought about these people trying to distract themselves.

Sinéad is extremely grateful to everyone on Spike and says they couldn’t have been more helpful during her six-month residency.

“I would come about once a week through the winter. I came on the worker’s boat in the morning and stayed until 4pm. Of course, that’s not the same as being locked up but it did give me a sense of being deserted somewhere. The island is pretty dark and bleak in the winter, nothing like it is in the summer.

“I spent a lot of time outdoors drawing and the drawings developed into the final pieces. But the people working here couldn’t have been nicer.”

At the launch, Spike Island’s museum curator Dorota Gubbins said: “It has been a pleasure to host Sinéad’s residency at Spike Island over the past six months in what is our second collaboration with her and Sample Studios. This year marks the 140th anniversary of the closing of the Convict Prison in 1883. 

"The first Victorian convicts arrived in October, 1847, at the height of the Great Famine and soon after, Spike Island had become the largest prison in Britain and Ireland, at one point holding over 2,300 convicts.

We do not know all their names, but we do hope that this exhibition will give a voice to the voiceless and forgotten as the art has that unique ability to engage with the past.

Echoes of Isolation will be on display to visitors at the Punishment Block on Spike Island until August 31 as part of the Cork Harbour Festival.