Launch of new sound artworks at Ballyogan Library, celebrating community, memory and place

Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council (dlr) is delighted to announce the launch of two new sound artworks at Ballyogan Library, created in collaboration with local communities. The commissions mark the first projects of dlr’s Public Art Programme, The Story We Tell Tomorrow.  Located near the foothills of the Dublin Mountains, Ballyogan is one of the fastest-growing areas in the county. These artworks capture the layered history, evolving identity, and everyday rhythms of Ballyogan through immersive listening experiences. 

Fragments: Memories of Place, a site-specific sound sculpture by Living Rhythms, brings together spoken memories from across three generations of Ballyogan residents. The work weaves stories from those who remember the area as countryside in the 1940s, those who settled in the newly built estates of the 1980s and 1990s and helped establish vital community services, and those who have grown up in the locality more recently. Together, these voices reflect on remembering, making, and inheriting a place that has undergone profound transformation. 

The second artwork, Factory Reset, is a collaborative project led by artists Karl Burke and David Beattie with Leaving Cert Applied students from Stepaside Educate Together Secondary School. Through a series of creative workshops exploring sound and psychoacoustics, students investigated how sound shapes our perception of place. The resulting work is a limited-edition sound composition, produced on audio tape, which will be available to borrow and experience at Ballyogan Library. 

The Cathaoirleach of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, Councillor Jim Gildea said: 

“The launch of these new artworks at Ballyogan Library is a powerful celebration of community voice and shared experience. Fragments: Memories of Place and Factory Reset beautifully capture the spirit of Ballyogan — its history, its resilience, and its future. I commend everyone involved for creating work that not only reflects the identity of the area but invites us all to listen more closely to the stories and sounds that shape our communities.” 

Frank Curran, Chief Executive of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council added: 

“These first commissions of The Story We Tell Tomorrow demonstrate the strength of dlr’s commitment to meaningful Public Arts, rooted in collaboration and participation. By working directly with local residents and young people, these projects reveal how creativity can deepen our understanding of place and foster a strong sense of belonging. Ballyogan Library is an ideal setting for these works, offering the public a unique opportunity to engage with art that is both locally grounded and creatively ambitious.”