Location: Wicklow, near Roundwood, Wicklow Uplands Council
Credit: Shane Finan
Initiative: Belmont Forum CRAs (CCH 2023)
Project: FIRECULT
Story: FIRECULT was investigating the effect of wildfires on cultural heritage. Shane Finan was one of three artists in residence on the project, tasked with exploring the local effects of such loss in a case study in Ireland, partnered with University College Dublin and the Irish Uplands Forum.
In rural Ireland, many wildfires happen in upland heath areas and then spread into forestry. Some of these fires start with the highly flammable plant known internationally as ‘gorse’, and with local names in Ireland including ‘whin’, ‘furze’ and ‘aiteann’.
As part of the research, some of the research team visited the site of a burn of heather and gorse in the uplands in Wicklow in early 2025. The recent fire was still visible, and we walked among the charred remains. Present were ecologist from the Irish Uplands Council Mary Tubridy, coordinator of the Wicklow Uplands Council Lorna Kelly, UCD postdoctoral researcher Elgar Kamjou, and the lead team from the artist-in-residence programme Menelaos Gkartzios (Newcastle University) and James Lowther (The Maltings Arts Centre, Berwick-upon-Tweed).
This photograph was framed to capture some of the research on site, with community and research partners present. It was taken as part of the artistic research on the project by artist Shane Finan.