Tribute paid to hands sculptor

Tributes have been paid to the late Imogen Stuart, the generational German-Irish sculptor whose work 'Arch of Peace' adorned Cavan Town's Market Square for many years.

Born in Berlin in 1927, her career saw her provided works for public spaces and churches across Ireland, including the Angel of Peace at St Teresa’s Carmelite Church in Dublin, and the bronze crucifix at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Armagh.

Other prominent works include Pangur Bán, based on a poem about a monk and his cat, on display at Áras an Uachtaráin visitor's centre.

She moved to Ireland in 1949 after meeting her husband in post-war Bavaria, first settling in Wicklow, before later moving to Sandycove from where the mother-of-three remained active and creative right up to the end of her life, March 24.

A member of Aosdána since 1981, she was made a Saoi in 2015, and elected professor of sculpture at the Royal Hibernian Academy in 2000.

In November 2018, she received the Cross of the Order of Merit, Germany's highest civil honour.

Last year her ‘Hands of Peace’ was relocated to a new site on Farnham Road, and more than three decades after the artist attended its official unveiling at Market Square, she was welcomed back to view its prominent new home.

A vote of sympathy to Mrs Stuart's family was passed at the April monthly meeting of Cavan County Council last Monday, April 8.