The Fourth Wall: Ireland

I recently had the good fortune of taking my exploration of of fictional worlds to Ireland while traveling through the country. You can check out an essay of other images from the trip here. The innate desire we have to take part in these constructed alter-realities is undoubtedly a worldwide phenomenon, and I hope to explore this idea in a diversity of cultures as funds and time come available. The National Wax Museum in Dublin was my first visit ever to a wax museum, and I was pleasantly surprised. I found endless amusement where I thought I would find boredom. The museum was laid out in a haunted-house style funnel leading you from one room to the next till you reach the exit. We were taken on a journey through history, horror, and an eclectic if not odd mixture of pop culture. I still can’t quite get over the R-rated horror movie room with the likes of Hannibal Lecter and Buffalo Bill. One of the most interesting visits though was the Bunratty Castle and Folk Park. In 1277 Sir Thomas de Clare built a stone castle and a town grew up around its walls. Bunratty and the surrounding town were burnt down by the widow of the son of Sir Thomas. Bunratty passed back and fort between the Irish and the English until 1450 when Macon MacSioda Macnamara and his son Sean Finn erected the present castle. The place is now occupied by the park, which is more of a giant preserved museum in the form of a town. Really cool if you want to feel like you’re stepping back hundreds of years in time.

For more, check out the links at the bottom for previous posts of the project’s progress.