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Fionn McCann , Irish, b.1973

Title

No.18 from the series Geokaun Mountain

Date2024

MediumArchival pigment print

Dimensions

36 × 45 cm

Credit LinePresented, the Artist, 2025

Object numberNGI.2025.32

DescriptionGeokaun Mountain is an ongoing body of work that focuses on the history and topography of the Geokaun Mountain on Valentia Island, particularly the Valentia Slate Quarry built into the base of the mountain. What began as commission by Irish designer Edwyn James Hickey, transformed into a personal odyssey. Geokaun Mountain examines the involuntary and shifting landscapes created by an industry – the negative spaces, the deconstruction of a mountain and the people who both create and use the material quarried from it.
The oldest business in Kerry, and one of the oldest manufacturing business in Ireland, the Valentia Slate Quarry was opened in 1816 by the 18th Knight of Kerry, Maurice Fitzgerald, during which time it functioned primarily in the supply of slates and slabs for roofing and flooring. It is the oldest quarry in production in Ireland and the most westerly quarry in Europe. Valentia slate was used extensively in England during the mid-19th century for the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey and Cathedral, St Paul’s Cathedral and many of the Underground Railway Stations such as, Waterloo, Charing Cross, Liverpool Street and Black Friars. It was also used in the Paris Opera House.
In this photograph, the viewer is presented with the world outside of the quarry, a luscious topography in contrast to the rough, cold stone of the interior. When taken together the artist’s interior views of the quarry, it is almost difficult to imagine the realm of activity that exists below this rather calm exterior.