'Colour and inspiration' brought to Cork streets with the completion of two new murals 

Cork has been given yet another splash of colour with two large-scale murals taking pride of place in the city.

The result was the product of Ardú Street Art who are endeavouring to bring as much colour as possible to Cork city streets.

One of the new murals, which is located on Coburg St, commemorates Tomás MacCurtain and was created by artists and co-organisers of Ardú, Shane O’Driscoll and Peter Martin.

The Coburg St mural culminated from a project with transition-year students from St Angela’s College Cork and Christian Brothers College.

The artwork explores MacCurtain as a musician and Celtic revivalist.

It depicts him holding a fiddle while surrounded by family.

The image of the lark represents his favourite traditional song, ‘The Lark in the Clear Air’.

While travelling the county as a recruiter for the Irish Volunteers, MacCurtain is known to have played this tune in houses across the country.

The second collaborative mural can be found on Harley St and incorporates an abstract design.

Ardú Street Art was established in Cork during lockdown of October 2020 as a means to bring street artists together.

The project included well-known artists such as Deirdre Breen, Maser, James Earley, Peter Martin, Shane O’Driscoll, Aches, and Garreth Joyce.

It was brought about to improve the urban landscape of Cork city. The group are responsible for 14 pieces of work dotted across Cork city.

The project was made a reality with the support of Pat McDonnell Paints.

Aidan McDonnell of Pat McDonnell Paints said they are delighted to support the initiative.

“Here at Pat McDonnell Paints we were delighted to continue our support of Ardú in this, their fourth year, bringing colour and inspiration to the streets of Cork,” he said.