Sétanta

About the exhibition

In the townland of Corlat, close to Dundalk, our fella spends his time on the pitch. Back and forth, across the field, he speeds to the goal, lifting the ball over the bar with a strong kick. By jeezus the wee lad can fairly move. 

Sétanta is a modern retelling of the folk story of Cú Chulainn, the boy hero of Ireland, reframed to trace how masculinity is performed in sport and Irish culture. Between county pride and border blood, we follow Sétanta as he chases a spot on the county team, all while protecting his interior life against the conditions of rural sport, family expectation and communal belonging. 

Irish men have long remained absent from gender discourse, invisible as the dominant power and unspoken norm, yet flattened by hackneyed stereotypes that deny them their complexity. But on the pitch and in the pub ( equally sacred grounds), masculinity becomes something distinctly visible, especially in the forgotten border towns of the north, where there is no room for softness. Defined by its colonial history, here, the hard lad still prevails. Whether it's beneath the floodlights or hidden in changing rooms, sporting and cultural spaces operate as sites of hostility to dismiss or ignore the queer presences within them. 

A touch between limbs, the clamour of celebration or locking eyes before a pass— Sétanta is concerned with the tenderness of masculine circles that sport refuses to acknowledge or praise. Inspired by the legacy of the Armagh GAC and the increased visibility of queer players within the sport, such as Mark Shields as well as the work of Aeracha Uladh GAC, this exhibition explores what it means to be "other" in the culturally charged setting of the GAA and rural Irish communities. Through print and sculptural installation, Sétanta proposes that our clubs and their battles, even those in the shticks, should have room for every player. 

About the artist

 Ella Garvey is a printmaker and recent graduate of BSOA, now based between France and Ireland. Her work explores the performance of masculinity and the contradictions and colloquial instructions that shape the Irish masculine identity. Questioning the heroic veneer of Irish sporting culture, the work is also enamoured with ideas of celebration, recreating the chaos, intimacy and contradictions of the game.Her images seek to disarm the masculine spectacle, casting players in hazy purples and lighthearted hues- evoking nostalgia but also teasing at the homoerotic undercurrents of male physicality and closeness.By reimagining cultural symbols and known mythologies, the audience is invited to imagine what masculinity could look like, both on and off the pitch 

This process is shaped by ongoing research into visual culture, particularly focusing on how gender is constructed and regulated within rural environments where traditional roles are heightened. These communities engage in humorous yet complex social routines, yet are often shunned as subordinate and disengaged from the conversation surrounding gender. 

Sétanta comes about as a part of the Pollen Studios Graduate Award 2025 and with the support of PS2.