Designer/Metalsmith/Sculptor
Kevin J. O'Dwyer
Griffin Murray – Author
Dr Griffin Murray is a lecturer in Archaeology at University College Cork (UCC) where he teaches in the areas of Museum Studies and Medieval Archaeology. He also serves as President of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society. He holds a BA (2001), MA (2002), MBS (2015) and PhD (2007) from UCC. His doctoral thesis ‘The Cross of Cong and Church Metalwork from Romanesque Ireland’, was funded by the Irish Research Council. He has also studied at postgraduate level at the University of Copenhagen and the University of California, Los Angeles.
From 2007 to 2012 he worked in the museum sector, in both the National Museum of Ireland and Kerry County Museum, in the area of museum collections. Between 2012 and 2014 he undertook an Irish Research Council funded post-doctoral research project on Irish and Scottish medieval crosiers in the Department of Archaeology, UCC. From 2015 to 2019, he worked in Adult Continuing Education at UCC, where he was Centre Manager, as well as a Programme Coordinator and a part-time lecturer. He has also served as Editor of the Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society (2013-2016) and has also been a member of council, vice-president for Munster, and book-reviews Editor (2006-2011) for the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland.
His book The Cross of Cong: A Masterpiece of Medieval Irish Art was published by Irish Academic Press and the National Museum of Ireland in 2014, while he edited the book The Medieval Treasures of County Kerry in 2010. Dr Murray has published 30 academic peer-reviewed papers in journals and books and is regularly invited to speak at conferences and to historical and archaeological societies. He is currently co-editing a book on the stave church at Urnes in Norway, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with Dr Margrete Syrstad Andås (Norwegian University of Science and Technology) and Dr Kirk Ambrose (University of Colorado, Boulder).
A Masterpiece of Medieval Art: Saint Manchan’s Shrine
Saint Manchan’s Shrine stands as Ireland’s largest surviving reliquary and a masterpiece of medieval craftsmanship. It is a unique fusion of Irish monastic metalsmithing with stylistic influences drawn from Irish, Late Viking/Urnes, and Romanesque Christian traditions. This remarkable cross-fertilization of styles and cultures makes the shrine an extraordinary subject of study, both from archaeological and metalsmithing perspectives.
Archaeologist Griffin Murray and metalsmith/photographer Kevin O’Dwyer have joined forces to produce a high-quality coffee table publication that explores the shrine through two distinct yet complementary lenses: scholarly insight and visual artistry. The 90-page book will feature atmospheric full- and double-page photographic spreads, antiquarian drawings, and close-up details that reveal the intricate craftsmanship of the shrine.
Presented through a series of engaging essays, the publication will delve into:
The life of Saint Manchan and the monastic heritage of Lemanaghan
The art and craftsmanship of the shrine itself
The cultural synthesis seen in the Late Viking/Urnes style
The shrine’s connections with the makers of the Cross of Cong
This collaborative work offers an immersive and richly illustrated journey into one of Ireland’s most iconic medieval treasures
A rich and dazzling Celtic bewilderment, a perpetual challenge to the eyes and a perpetual delight. T.D. Kendrick (Archaeologia 86, 1936)
Saint Manchan's Shrine
Art and Devotion in Twelfth-century Ireland
Griffin Murray and Kevin O'Dwyer
Role: Artistic Director/Photographer/Project Manager
Oonagh Young – Book Design
Oonagh Young has worked as a graphic designer for over 25 years running her own independent studio called Design HQ. Specialising in design for print in the cultural sector, she has worked with a number of Ireland’s main cultural institutions including The Irish Museum of Modern Art, Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery, Royal Hibernian Academy, The National Library of Ireland, Limerick City Gallery and Crawford Art Gallery in Cork. The artists books she has designed and produced include two publications for the ongoing Lucien Freud Project currently running in IMMA, theNovak/O’Doherty collection ‘Post War American Art’ and Patrick Scott ‘Image Space Light’ both for IMMA; Niamh McCann for Hugh Lane Gallery, Anita Groener for Limerick City Gallery and Daphne Wright ‘A Quite Mutiny’ for Crawford Art Gallery. Other books include ‘Fluid Forms’: Liam Flynn, a retrospective of the work by the late Liam Flynn and a book entitled ‘Museum’ for the recently opened ’14 Henrietta Street’ featuring the work of Poet Paula Meehan and photographer Dragana Juristic.
Kevin O’Dwyer – Artistic Director / Photographer
Kevin O’Dwyer is an internationally recognised metalsmith, sculptor, educator, and photographer with over 30 years of experience in the contemporary art and cultural heritage sectors. He holds a Master’s degree in Cultural Policy and Arts Management from University College Dublin and has worked extensively across Ireland, Europe, and the United States.
O’Dwyer has contributed to numerous acclaimed art and heritage publications, serving in roles such as Artistic Director, project manager, and photographer. His credits include:
- Stories from a Sacred Landscape (Offaly County Council)
- Fluid Forms: Liam Flynn (Flynn Estate)
- Wild Geese: The Irish in America (Crafts Council of Ireland)
- FIS / Passion / Rhythm / Spirit (World Academy of Irish Music and Dance, University of Limerick)
- Peatlands (International Peat Congress / Sculpture in the Parklands)
- A Sparkling Party (Eblana Gallery)
- Benedict Tutty Retrospective (Glenstal Abbey)
From 2002 to 2010, O’Dwyer established and directed Sculpture in the Parklands, a pioneering collaboration with Bord na Móna that received four national awards for excellence in cultural programming. In 2013–2014, he co-initiated and directed the Sculpture in the Wild International Sculpture Symposium in Lincoln, Montana (USA), and served as Artistic Director of Blackfoot Pathways: Sculpture in the Wild from 2014 to 2023.
His work with Sculpture in the Wild has been recognized with two Montana Heritage Awards and the 2020 Governor’s Arts Award, the highest artistic honor in the state.