Spotlight on Outcomes of Artist Maria McSweeney’s 2026 residency at Loughshinny Boathouse

On the conclusion of this year’s Loughshinny Boathouse Studio Award, the Mayor of Fingal Cllr. Tom O’Leary and County Arts Officer Sarah O’Neill met artist Maria McSweeney, the recipient of the award, to reflect on the outcomes of her residency exploring the Fingal coastline. They were joined by several people who collaborated with Maria on the research and production elements of her project W(O)AR which centred on the cultural, environmental and historical significance of seaweed in Fingal.

The Mayor of Fingal Cllr. Tom O’Leary commented: “I would like to congratulate Maria for the remarkable body of work she has developed during her residency and for the meaningful connections she fostered within the local community. Through workshops, conversations and collaborative activities with local schoolchildren and Transition Year students from Fingal, she inspired curiosity, creativity and an appreciation of our coastal environment among young people.”

Sarah O’Neill, County Arts Officer said “Through initiatives such as this studio award, Fingal County Council aims to provide meaningful opportunities for artists to develop ambitious works like this, while also creating opportunities for public engagement.  I commend Maria on her commitment, dedication and creativity and I look forward to seeing how her art practice evolves in the future.”

The Loughshinny Artist Studio Award was established in 2024 to support a professional visual artist by providing funding, time, space and resources to develop their creative practice in response to the coastal environment of Fingal with a focus on local biodiversity, ecology and climate change.

Over the course of the residency Maria, a lens based visual artist and scuba diver, immersed herself at the boathouse, exploring the cultural, historical and potential future of seaweed. Maria’s research and engagement brought attention to historical narratives connected to this shoreline. A key strand of her research focused on the “Seaweed Wars”, a series of conflicts that emerged during the nineteenth century around the harvesting rights and economic value of seaweed in Skerries, Balbriggan and Donabate. By weaving together environmental awareness, cultural memory and artistic interpretation the work illuminated the longstanding relationship between people and marine resources, reminding us that the coast has always been both a source of livelihood and a place of shared heritage.

During the research phase of her residency, Maria engaged closely with Skerries, Rush and Loughshinny Historical Societies and several council departments, including the Biodiversity and Climate Action Departments, as well as Fingal Local Studies and Archives and Newbridge House, Donabate.  These encounters provided valuable insight, local knowledge and perspectives into the ecological, historical and cultural dimensions of the coastline, that informed the development of her work.

Maria explored and incorporated seaweed into her work in a myriad of innovative and thoughtful ways.  She experimented with seaweed not only as a subject, but also as a material and process within her practice. She collaborated extensively with Marine Biologist Dr. Maeve Edwards from the Irish Seaweed Consultancy to cultivate kelp, she developed films shot both underwater and on land at the sites connected to the seaweed wars using seaweed-based film developers, she produced ink from charred seaweed collected along the coastline and used seaweed to fertilise a variety of heritage potatoes.

As part of her residency Maria engaged with students from St. Brendan’s National School and also hosted events for Dublin Climate Action Week and National Biodiversity Week which included a seaweed educational walking tour led by Dr. Maeve Edwards, ecological Lumen printing workshops, the W(O)AR exhibition and a shoreline tour exploring a variety of coastal species, facilitated by Fingal’s Executive Biodiversity Officer Lorraine Bull.

Through her work, Maria has successfully connected art, environmental awareness and local heritage in a way that has resonated strongly with audiences.  She intends to continue developing ideas and research on seaweed when she commences her forthcoming residency at Creative Spark, Dundalk.

For further information, please see:

www.fingalarts.ie                     www.fingal.ie/arts                   www.mariamcsweeney.com

Image Credits:
1.    Robert Coleman, composer and sound artist; Sarah O’Neill, County Arts Officer; Maria McSweeney, Mayor of Fingal Cllr. Tom O’Leary; Cathal Dowd Smith, Curator and Architectural Historian from Newbridge House; Vera Stone, Maeve McNally and Margaret McCann from Loughshinny and Rush Historical Society.

2.  Seaweed foraging with 6th Class students from St. Brendan’s National School, Loughshinny.

3.    Shoreline tour with Fingal’s Executive Biodiversity Officer, Lorraine Bull.

4. Under Observation – underwater shot of seaweed from a film created by Maria McSweeney in collaboration with Dr Maeve Edwards from the Irish Seaweed Consultancy.