"Idir an Dá Linn: Meanwhile; Between the Two Lakes" is a community‐led, interdisciplinary project that sought to recover and recreate the lost narrative of Glenbower Lake.
To contribute your memories and stories of Glenbower Lake and Wood, please visit: http://idirandalinn.com
Photography documentation by Chris Finnegan.
Over 30 years have passed since the controversial destruction of Glenbower Lake, a watershed event that not only reshaped the local physical landscape but also severed important cultural and ecological ties. The loss of the lake in 1988, and the scar that remained, compelled the Killeagh community to rally together and purchase 30 acres of Glenbower Wood to reinstate it; a prospect that remains as distant to the lake that was lost.
"Idir an Dá Linn," creatively explores this liminal space in which the Killeagh and East Cork community occupies, caught between the solastalgia for the lost Glenbower Lake and the future nostalgia for its potential reinstatement.
Through meaningful collaboration, this project offered space for reflection, dialogue, and shared creation, to address the loss of such a significant character of our community and raise broader questions regarding our role in ecological stewardship of such a vital piece of community heritage.
This project documented and re‐examined that history through oral histories, video interviews,
community‐based storytelling workshops, artefact collection, and a performance in Glenbower Wood.
community‐based storytelling workshops, artefact collection, and a performance in Glenbower Wood.
The community-led site specific performance involving keening, the traditional Irish form of vocal lament for the dead, integrating the Irish language, was developed with the support of local artist Mícheál Ó Catháin.
A series of events including an exhibition, installations and the community keen were curated and co-created with artists Basil Al-Rawi, Mícheál Ó Catháin and Philip Ryan, and took place over Heritage Week at Greywood Arts. A short film and a community-produced zine capturing the journey of this project and story of the lost Glenbower Lake will be produced following Heritage Week.
"Idir an Dá Linn" is supported by Create Ireland through an Artist in the Community Project Realisation Award, Creative Ireland and Cork County Council through the Creative Communities Programme, and Cork County Council's County Cork Heritage Grant Scheme 2025, Scéim Deontais Ealaíon Chomhairle Contae Chorcaí 2025 and a LAWPRO Event Grant.