ESB block Athy mural
The mural of Shackleton shackled by ESB works
THE ESB has installed a large junction box in Athy which resulted in blocking a major part of the Ernest Shackleton mural at the end of Meeting Lane.
The work was carried out on a piece of ground owned by Kildare County Council and it is believed that both Kildare County Council and the ESB agreed on where the box was to be erected.
“It’s a much remarked upon mural,” said Kevin Kenny, manager of the nearby Athy Museum.
“I remember when she was doing it, there were a number of electrical wires at the location, and she was able to cleverly incorporate them into the mural as ropes on the ship,” he said.
“You know how they’ve started painting these type of boxes as something imaginative in Dublin, well, maybe they could do that here, maybe paint up the box as a dog hut, or something on the deck of the ship,” he suggested.
“It surely would have been as easy for both to move the ESB box a few yards to the left where it would not obscure the Ernest Shackleton mural,” commented local solicitor Frank Taaffe and columinst in this week's .
The mural was painted a little over two years ago by artist Eloise Gillow, just in time to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the death of the famous polar explorer.
