Designer/Metalsmith/Sculptor
Kevin J. O'Dwyer
Two new sculptural works by artist Kevin O’Dwyer have been officially launched at Lough Boora Discovery Park, marking the first major additions to the park’s sculpture collection in over a decade. The works, titled Regeneration and Light as a Feather, reflect the park’s evolving story of transformation from industrial peatlands to a landscape of ecological restoration, culture and public enjoyment.
Regeneration draws inspiration from the seed as a symbol of renewal, growth, and cyclical change. Rising vertically from the ground, the work acknowledges the industrial history of the site while pointing toward its continued regeneration.
Light as a Feather offers a contrasting visual language — a suspended, airy form that engages with space, balance, stillness and the quiet expansiveness of Boora’s open horizon.
“Lough Boora is a place shaped by change, resilience and imagination,” said Kevin O’Dwyer. “These works are rooted in the landscape’s capacity to hold memory while continually becoming something new. It has been an honour to contribute to this next chapter in the park’s cultural and environmental renewal.”
Developed with the support of Bord na Móna and Offaly County Council, the works highlight the role of the arts in shaping public engagement with landscape and regional identity. The sculptures expand the existing Lough Boora Sculpture Park collection, inviting visitors to encounter the environment through form, material, and movement.
About the Artist
Kevin O’Dwyer is an Irish sculptor and metalsmith whose work explores the relationships between landscape, memory and material. His public artworks are located across Ireland, Europe and the United States, and his studio practice spans sculpture, metalsmithing, and site-specific installation.
About Lough Boora Discovery Park
Lough Boora Discovery Park is a unique landscape of cutaway bog, regenerated wetlands, wildlife habitats, walking and cycling trails, and a significant collection of site-specific sculpture. The park is managed in partnership between Bord na Móna and Offaly County Council.
Sculptor Kevin O'Dwyer
Speech at Sculpture Launch - Kevin O'Dwyer
Good morning,
It’s a real pleasure to be here with you today at Lough Boora Discovery Park for the launch my new works —Regeneration andLight as a Feather.
This place holds a special significance — not only for me, but for the many who have worked this landscape through the ages. It has inspired artists to create site specific works of art as well as video, dance and music composition that responded to this unique landscape and the industrial heritage of the cut away bog. It has deepened the community’s connection to the arts through shared participation and engagement.
I warmly welcome:
Cathaoirleach, Councillor John Leahy
Chief Executive of Offaly County Council, Anne Marie Delaney;
Lisa Kealey, Head of Recreation at Bord na Móna.
Thank you for your thoughtful and kind words.
Your continued commitment to nurturing creativity and protecting the cultural and natural heritage of this extraordinary landscape is deeply appreciated.
I’d also like to welcome Anne Dillon, Director of Culture and Community services, Amanda Pedlow, Heritage Officer and Offaly Creative Ireland Coordinator, Bord na Mona's Ciaran McManus — and Offaly’s Arts Officer, Maeve Mulrennan. All members of the Lough Boora working group.
Lough Boora has always been a landscape of transformation. Once shaped by the industry of peat harvesting, it has evolved into a living gallery — a place where art, ecology, and imagination intertwine.
The sculptures that rise across the parklands tell stories of past and present — of renewal and resilience — of how human creativity can grow from the land’s own process of healing.
In the early years of Sculpture in the Parklands, a few dedicated individuals laid the foundations for all that we celebrate today.
I would like to thank Brendan O’Loughlin, Chairman of the then Lough Boora Parklands Group, along with Bord na Móna’s Tom Egan, Don O’Boyle, and Seamus Barron — whose belief in the potential of this landscape, and in the power of art to transform it, supported the artists who came on site to create significant works of art.
Their foresight ensured that Lough Boora would become not only a place of environmental renewal — but also of cultural and creative regeneration.
I also want to acknowledge and thank all of the artists who have contributed their creativity and vision to Lough Boora over the years.
Their work transformed this landscape into a living expression of imagination and renewal, ensuring that art remains at the heart of the park’s identity.
And I’d like to thank Michael Burke, Donnie Collins, and the Bord na Móna team, whose dedication in restoring and maintaining the earlier sculptures has preserved the integrity and spirit of this landscape.
It has been over a decade since new sculptures were last introduced here — ten years in which the natural environment continued to evolve, but the artistic voice of the park lay still.
Today marks the end of that dormancy. This is more than an unveiling — it is a reawakening — a new chapter in the creative life of Lough Boora.
Regeneration was created as a reflection on those cycles of renewal— how the land heals, how creativity endures, and how communities evolve.
The sculpture takes its inspiration from the seed — an elemental form and a universal symbol of growth and new beginnings. It speaks to the essence of this place —to the idea that every new emergence carries the memory of what came before.
Light as a Feather, by contrast, explores balance and fragility — It evokes a sense of lightness, freedom, and transformation — qualities that speak to both the natural world and the human imagination.
Together, these two works create a dialogue — between past and future,
between earth and sky, between weight and lightness.
I want to acknowledge the outstanding engineering collaboration that brought these sculptures to life.
My sincere thanks to Sean Donaghy and Anthony Bermingham of Midland Cladding, whose craftsmanship, precision, and creative partnership were essential in realizing these works.
And lastly — but most importantly — I want to extend my deepest gratitude to Amanda Pedlow, Offaly’s Creative Ireland Coordinator , whose leadership, belief, and support were instrumental in securing funding and moving this project forward.
Amanda’s commitment to culture, heritage, and creativity in Offaly continues to enrich the county and make projects like this possible.
The installation of these works marks the return of new sculptural voices to Lough Boora.
May Regeneration and Light as a Feather stand as symbols of renewal — honouring the enduring connection between art, landscape, nature, and human imagination.
Thank you all — for being part of this continuing story of renewal and creativity at Lough Boora.
Lisa Kealey, Head of Recreation at Bord na Móna, Cathaoirleach, Councillor John Leahy, Kevin O'Dwyer and Chief Executive of Offaly County Council, Anne Marie Delaney