Constructed over a weekend in November 2011, "Achill Henge" is over 4 metres high and 100 metres in circumference by 30 metres in diameter.
It consists of a circle of 30 concrete columns topped by a ring of stone. A team of workers hauled the large concrete slabs up the hill and sank them in the bog. Mayo County Council requested a court order to force Mr. McNamara to remove the edifice as it had been built without planning permission. Mr. McNamara claimed that the structure was exempt from planning rules as an "ornamental garden". The High Court required him to cease further work on the site, and as he was found to be in breach of this, he was jailed for three days for contempt of court. Some local people have expressed admiration for the work as a feat of engineering, and a newspaper poll found a majority of locals in support of keeping the structure and it still stands strong on Achill Island. The purpose of the structure has never been fully established although the wide belief is that it was built as a protest to much of the failings of the Celtic Tiger. In the middle of the structure a concrete semi-circle is still visible, as is a rectangular concrete base. For Roscommon illustrator and street artist Joe Caslin, it was simply ‘the perfect canvas’. Caslin, along with a team of 12 people, including photographers, pasters and helpers, turned the site into a temporary art installation with 30 12-foot drawings of a young Irish male, as part of his ongoing ‘Our Nation’s Sons’ project. Joe and his team set about making the dream a reality, and putting a ‘positive slant’ on a site that has been loaded with controversy since its construction. “From the minute I saw it I always wanted to do something on it,” explained Caslin. Officially, the Our Nation’s Sons project is said to “use portrait drawings as a tool to provoke and question current representations of young men in today’s society.” In the illustrator’s own words, the project aims to “put the focus back on the lads” and to get people talking again. “It’s to portray them in a different light. For more information on the project, and to view Caslin’s work and videos, visit his website, www.joecaslin.com
