TULACH A' tSOLAIS

Architectural Review, The, May, 2000 by Scott Tallon Walker

MONUMENT, OULART HILL, COUNTY WEXFORD, IRELAND

An austere monument in pastoral Wexford landscape commemorates history and proffers hope for the future.

Oulart Hill is the site of a new monument in County Wexford designed by Ronald Tallon of Scott Tallon Walker Architects, in collaboration with sculptor Michael Warren. The monument commemorates the bicentenary of the 1798 rebellion against English rule, a precious moment when Irish liberty seemed possible, for it was a time in the latter part of the eighteenth century, and in the aftermath of the French Revolution, when revolutionary influences from France and North America were being felt in Ireland. One consequence of the uprising was the establishment of the Wexford Republic which lasted three weeks before nationalist defeat at Vinegar Hill, 12km to the west on the far side of a valley.

Placed at the top of rising ground, at the end of a long walk (for there is no road), the monument is a grassy mound bisected by a deep passage open to the sky. Measuring 900mm in width (the scheme conforms to a basic 900 x 900mm module), the passage traces a line between Oulart and Vinegar Hills, running four degrees off the cardinal east-west points of the compass. Sheer flanking walls frame Vinegar Hill on the west, and the rays of the rising and setting sun.

On either side, the austere passage leads to a chamber. This is a double cube paved with granite slabs, lined with concrete panels (the pattern of bolt holes being the only decoration), and split by the great chasm of light. Inside the chamber are two horizontal sculptures by Warren, curving planes of 200 year old Irish oak placed in deference to the Golden Mean.

In the soft pastoral landscape, the grave and abstract simplicity of the monument is powerful. The monument commemorates courage: and a moment when people of different denominations in Ireland were united. In respecting the past, it holds out hope for the future. Tulach a' tSolais, meaning the Mound of Light, is intended as a symbol of enlightenment.

1 Grass mound bisected by deep passage.

2 Passage running east-west to frame Vinegar Hill.

3 Double-cubed chamber paved with granite slabs and set with Michael Warren's sculptures of Irish oak.

Architect

Scott Tailor Walker Architects, Dublin

Concept

Ronald Tallon,, Michael Warren

Project architect

Brian Foley

Structural engineer

Ove Arup & Partners

Landscape architect

Charles Funks Associates

Photographs

Peter Cook/VIEW