The Táin

Still as evocative today as it was when they laid the last tile in 1974, Desmond Kinney’s «The Táin» is a brilliant piece of Dublin art tying in Setanta House with its mythic namesake.
Often read left to right (as you come in at the end of the story and the entrance of the small car park), the wall is a highlight reel of Irish hero Cuchulainn’s exploits –cows, queens and bloody battles.
As a piece of durable street art, the mural is alive with colour and motion –pulling the observer along its story telling track with fluid bodies and jewel coloured tesserae.
I first met this statue at 13 and was awestruck –art existed everywhere in Dublin.
That first long picture I snapped would be one of many as I made return trips to the city and this mosaic again and again. Walking past it today feels as if an old friend is just around the corner.