PLANNING permission for a wildlife mural in Glengarriff has been granted by Cork County Council to the Glengarriff Tidy Towns committee.
Local GP Jeremy Cotter, who has given permission for his surgery wall at Cappyaughna to be used for the expansive mural, believes it will help tourism in the village.
It is understood that work on the mural will commence in May. Glengarriff is known as the place ‘between the mountains and the sea’ so the mural will feature some of its many natural attractions.
Its famous white-tailed eagles will take pride of place, as will the seals that sun themselves on rocky outcrops on route to Garinish Island.
Of course, no painting of Glengarriff would be complete without its majestic Sugar Loaf Mountain, and its breathtaking seascape.
‘The best thing about Glengarriff is its scenery and its people,’ Dr Cotter told The Southern Star.
The project is being supported with funding made available through a County Council scheme, as well as a private donation.
The local authority granted permission for the mural on the basis that ‘the upkeep of the mural shall be the responsibility of the local community.’
Glengarriff can legitimately claim bragging rights as being one of the first tourist destinations in all of Ireland as it was part of ‘The Grand Tour’, a 17th to early 19th century right-of-passage for well-heeled noble men and women.
In 1842, novelist William Makepeace Thackeray added to its fame by writing: ‘within five miles round the pretty Inn of Glengarriff, there is a country of the magnificence of which no pen can give an idea?’
Today, Glengarriff enjoys pride of place on the Wild Atlantic Way.
