There is something quietly magnetic about Ballydehob, a village where the arts don't just survive, but flourish. Down an unassuming laneway in the heart of town, behind a creaky wooden door, sparks are flying as local sculptor, Dubhaltach Ó Colmáin, is reattaching a metal bird to a 100cm tall steel sculpture called "Aengus Óg".
Capturing this moment in real time is local photographer Tich Breathnach who has been working with Dubhaltach over the past few weeks, taking shots of his work for an exciting upcoming project. At the heart of Ballydehob's creative pulse is Working Artist Studios, a gallery and artist workspace founded in the early 2000s by Marie and Pól Ó Colmáin, two artists who believe fiercely in making art accessible, communal, and rooted in place. They also just so happen to be Dubhaltach's parents. W.A.S was envisioned as a living, breathing space for artists in all stages of life.
It quickly became a cornerstone of Ballydehob's cultural fabric, a place that welcomed experimental work, traditional craft, poetry readings, original musical performances, exhibitions, and conversation. Over two decades, W.A.S developed a reputation far beyond its postcode, as a fiercely independent space, unafraid to blur the lines between disciplines and invite the public in to witness the process as much as the product.
Ó Colmáin, raised in that creative hum, brings his own quiet intensity and conceptual depth to the space now. Having attended Grennan Mill Craft School, his work often draws from folklore, Irish identity, memory and land. Now, in this studio in Ballydehob, surrounded by rusted tools, steel offcuts, and the smell of fireworks, Dubhaltach is building something ancient and utterly contemporary. Best known for his distinctive metal sculptures, the West Cork artist draws on a deep well of Irish mythology, animal symbolism, and ancestral craft to create works that feel both timeless and urgently of now.
Whether wall-mounted or freestanding, Ó Colmáin's sculptures are weighty with story. Figures emerge from the steel, a Mad King from spliced scrap, a mermaid mid wave, a copper turtle god with a delicate face. His work is both decorative and evocative, raw, and deeply symbolic.
"Metal holds memory," he says. "It remembers the heat, the pressure, the blows. Just like myth, these old stories have been reshaped a thousand times, but they still hold their core." There's a tension in the work, between decay and resilience, instinct and intellect, the ancient and the now.
Surfaces are often left unpolished, allowing rust, weld marks and elemental scars to remain visible. Many pieces invite a second look, what first appears industrial becomes intimate; what seems animal slowly reveals its symbolic weight. Dubhaltach's deep engagement with Irish mythology is no coincidence, it's part of a living inheritance.
His father Pól is a well-known figure in West Cork not only for his visual art, but for his lifelong passion for Irish folklore, storytelling, and language. Pól often wove ancient myths, local legends, and archetypal figures into his own creative work, and those stories filled the household Dubhaltach grew up in.
That legacy of oral tradition, of myth as a tool for understanding the self and the world, is something Dubhaltach now channels through a different medium. Where Pól tells stories in words and brushstrokes, Dubhaltach forges them into form, giving physical shape to old symbols and archetypes that still speak powerfully today.
A number of Dubhaltach's pieces are currently showing at the W.A.S Members Show. The exhibition is free and open to the public, and visitors are warmly encouraged to drop in, explore the work, and experience the power of myth made metal.
The exhibition runs until August 9th and features many local West Cork artists. Visits to his studio and all those of the artists at W.A.S are available year round.
Check out his work at http://www.dubhaltach.com
