The Shepherd of Killinarden- 1996

Photo Credit:  Killinarden 1991 (Pete Smyth)

The Shepherd of Killinarden-  1996

One fine summers night in 1996 I had a particularly late and enjoyable session in Aherne’s public house in Old Bawn, Tallaght.  High above Tallaght, after 1am in the morning I was walking with a small group of friends, mid-way through one of the largest local authority housing estate in the country, to get to a house in Killinarden heights where one of our number lived.  As young men, we tended to move in groups back then for health and safety reasons.

I was no doubt the worse for wear, having over indulged on pints of porter since early evening and some of my company had indulged in other recreational alternatives earlier that night.

A friend, walking a few yards ahead, stopped and slowly walked back to the group.  With a look of complete confusion and abject fear, he said “Lads. I’m not in good shape.  I think I got a bad one”. 

“What do you mean?” I said.

“I think my head is gone funny.  I’m seeing things”, he said.

“What do you mean you’re seeing things?”

“I’m seeing mad things.  I don’t think I’m well.”

“What sort of things?”  I asked.

“Strange things- A Shepherd and animals and stuff.  Look up there- can you see what I see?”

 In the front garden of a three bed terraced council house, about 100 yards ahead stood an eight foot bearded figure, a Shepherd, standing tall with a raised hand cupped over his brow, gazing into the middle distance up the street, with a  staff in hand.

“Can you see that?”  he asked.

“Jesus!” I said.   “That’s mad.  Ye’ I can see it.  It’s not you.  It’s an eight- foot Shepherd”.

“No!  I’m not talking about the bleedin’ Shepherd” he said. “Look further up the road.  Ah Jasus!  I need to sit down”.

About four gardens further up the street, on the front lawn of another house, within the distant gaze of the eight foot ceramic shepherd, was three plump life-sized ceramic sheep, grazing on the neighbours lawn.  At this point, I wasn’t feeling too well myself.

We all walked even more briskly than was usual, through the neighbourhood that night.  The following afternoon, after some sleep, we all talked about the Shepherd and the Sheep, each of us trying to piece together as best we could, the fragments of the night before- trying to ascertain as to whether that had happened in real life; not quite certain that it hadn’t been a communal hallucination.  Later that evening, we all set off with clear heads and curious fascination- back down to where we had seen the Shepherd and his lost Sheep, in the gardens of Killinarden, on our way back down to Aherne's Public House in Oldbawn.

Shepherd and Sheep was created by Vincent Brown, an artist with Alternative Entertainments Arts Group in 1995-1997. This sculpture consists of a shepherd, his hand raised to his brow, shading his eyes, on the lookout for his mosaic sheep. These concrete and mosaic covered sculptures were initially installed in front gardens in a residential area of Killinarden and also St. Thomas’s Primary School Jobstown.

Albert Perris

A Ramble about Tallaght,

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