We Turn Towards an Ending and Pay Attention

This project led by Fiona Hallinan working with collaborator Ellen Rowley and produced by the Department of Ultimology, looks at the demolition of Ireland's second largest Catholic church, Finglas West's Church of the Annunciation. Considering this ending as a rupture, this film and installation is an invitation to take a moment to gather, pause and reflect on issues of land ownership, the agency of materials, sustainability, the built environment, the legacy of the Catholic church's power in Ireland; asking what do we value, where do we gather, what should we keep and what should we discard in the context of climate crisis?

Positioned as a mediation of these issues, the project includes a film, Making Dust, based on the research of architectural historian Ellen Rowley and a table made from fragments of the demolished church. At a symposium in May the table will be activated with a meal and gathering of people and collectives with different perspectives on the project's themes.

This project was supported by the Arts Council of Ireland Visual Arts Project Award 2021 and will be presented at VISUAL Carlow, Ireland, from February 4th to May 14th 2023 and from September 14th to October 18th 2023 at the Irish Architectural Archive, Dublin, Ireland.

Images by Faolán Carey