Creative Connections

The Irish Sea was described by the geographer Emrys Bowen as the ‘Celtic Lake’; a lake characterised by a continual movement of people back and forth between Ireland and Wales. From the legendary journeys of early Celtic saints, to the account of the great satirical writer Jonathan Swift (who got stuck for days in Holyhead in 1727, and wrote a brilliantly irritable journal about it) the sea-crossings between Wales and Ireland have been vividly imagined and recorded. People have travelled for many reasons: for trade and for leisure, for medical, religious or political purposes, for family reasons—and also, unwillingly, in times of war. Each act of travel links the two countries together, reminding us of their shared histories, their similarities and their profound differences over the centuries.

This collection showcases some of the artistic works commissioned by ‘Ports, Past and Present’, a project exploring the history and heritage of the five ports still operating ferry services across the Irish Sea: Pembroke Dock, Rosslare Harbour, Fishguard, Dublin Port and Holyhead. The project is funded by the European Regional Development Fund through the Ireland Wales Cooperation programme, and jointly run by University College Cork, Wexford County Council, the University of Wales Trinity St David and Aberystwyth University.