Fergal McCarthy lives beside the filled-in harbour at the Guinness Factory in Dublin, the final destination until 1961 for thousands of barley-loaded barges that travelled from Carlow to Dublin along the Barrow and the Grand Canal. Using shipping palettes and hundreds of plastic bottles extracted from the canal near his home, a raft has been assembled to retrace this route in reverse. Salvaged ephemera gathered during the journey to Carlow will be assembled into artworks at VISUAL, the gallery becoming a production space for river-borne material at the opposite end of this once vital transport system.

Associated Events and Activities

River Walk with Fergal McCarthy Sundays 10th and 17th July, 12pm, Free. Join Fergal as he explores the banks of the river Barrow with an artist’s eye. Meet at VISUAL at 12pm. Listen, Watch and Read about Fergal's raft journey from Dublin to Carlow.

Listen to Fergal talk to Neil Delamere on TodayFm about his journey

Watch the video story of the project.

Read the Irish Times diary of his journey