The Punchestown Monolith | The Giants Finger

I came to the Punchestown Monolith on a day when the light was changing fast and a low wind was moving the cloud shadows across the wide plains.

The monolith is a truly singular structure known locally as the Giants Finger standing a full eight meters high as an imposing pillar of quartz streaked granite.

Its sheer scale is shocking.

To stand at its base is to feel small and temporary in the face of its ancient permanence.

It is a monument that does not require complexity to communicate its power and intention.

While it is firmly situated in a Bronze Age context I have the strongest feeling that its roots go deeper and that it was already a massive presence by the Neolithic era.

It is positioned on a slight rise of the Curragh allowing it to command the landscape.

Its purpose remains elusive to us.

Is it a marker for a forgotten alignment a solitary figure commemorating a great event or simply a visual symbol of territorial power that can be seen for miles.

I spent time drawing its irregular surfaces which are heavily weathered and scarred.

There is a texture to the stone that feels almost muscular like an ancient skin.

When the sun breaks through the quartz streaks catch the light creating a brief and surprising glow in the granite and for a moment the massive stone feels light and vibrant.

There are no known carvings or decorations on the stone yet its form is profoundly sculptural.

Its power is in its shape and its defiance of gravity.

I am inclined to create a piece that emphasizes this verticality and the isolation of the form against the massive open sky of Kildare.

Visual and Textural Impressions
The granite is a mix of gray and warm rose tones with quartz veins that are brilliant in the low sun and dull when in shadow.

I am inclined to work with heavy weight rough grain paper and thick charcoal to create the texture of the weathered granite.

Using raw indigo blue and sepia watercolor washes will allow me to capture the vastness of the Kildare plains and the sky around the monolith.

I am inclined to add texture by pressing rough cloth or local earth directly into the damp paint to create organic marks on the surface that feel like weathered stone.