Lord Mayor Unveils Restored Sculpture with Strong Family Link to its Original Cork 800 Commission

27/05/2026

Cork City Council has unveiled the restored sculpture Off Shore by the renowned Irish sculptor John Burke.

The Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr Fergal Dennehy, unveiled the restored piece in Blackrock on Monday alongside his father, former Lord Mayor John Dennehy (1983–84), who played a central role in the original Cork 800 programme from which the sculpture emerged.

Unveiling the renewed artwork, the Lord Mayor highlighted the personal resonance of the occasion.
 “I am delighted to unveil this restored John Burke sculpture, originally commissioned to mark the Cork 800 celebrations,” the Lord Mayor said. 

“It is especially meaningful to do so alongside my father, former Lord Mayor John Dennehy, who was a driving force behind those historic celebrations. 

“This restoration ensures the work can continue to be appreciated by residents and visitors for many years to come.”

John Burke (1946–2006), a pioneering figure in modern Irish sculpture, was one of the most significant figures in the history of sculpture in Ireland in the second half of the twentieth century, and was instrumental in defining sculptural practice in Ireland during the 1970s.

A graduate of the Crawford School of Art and later the Royal Academy in London, he became known for his bold abstract compositions in welded steel, juxtaposing those simple geometric shapes to form abstract compositions and using colour to soften and disguise unwanted elements of the metal.

As a lecturer at the Crawford, he influenced a generation of prominent Irish artists, including Eilís O’Connell, Vivienne Roche, Maud Cotter and Jim Buckley, and his teaching is often credited with creating a kind of renaissance in the well-established tradition of sculpture in Cork. 

His piece, Off Shore, was commissioned in 1985 as part of a Sculpture Symposium held at the former AnCO Training Centre in Bishopstown, Cork, supported by Cork 800 - the programme established by the then Cork Corporation to mark the 800th anniversary of the city’s charter in 1185.

The symposium brought together six artists - John Burke, Eilís O’Connell, Patrick O’Sullivan, Vivienne Roche, Hironori Katagiri and Jim Buckley - who worked with the training centre’s professional welders and trainees, to each produce a sculpture for permanent installation in Cork city.

The restoration of Off Shore was generously supported by the members of Cork City Council’s South East Local Area Committee and Cork City Council’s Arts Office.

The Council’s Arts Office also restored the large John Burke sculpture Kingfisher at Wilton roundabout in collaboration with the South West Local Area Committee in 2021.

These pieces, and Mr Burke’s The Red Cardinal at the Department of Health in Dublin, are among his most enduring public works.