Carlow beauty spot gets 'Mad' statue to celebrate area's mythic grandeur

Capitalising on the area’s links with the character, originally mentioned in a story involving St Moling – after whom the religious area and village is named after – Martin O’Brien of the Mullichain Cafe decided to hire a talented Co Wexford craftsman to make a statue of the famous Sweeney.

A big Seamus Heaney ‘Sweeney Astray’ novel fan, O’Brien found out that Sweeney was, in fact, the subject of several literary works, including a famous book by Brian O Nolan ( Flan O’Brien), ‘At Swim Two Birds’.

“I asked around, asked people if they had ever heard about the Mad Sweeney and they hadn’t. This is a fable a lot of famous writers have written about and it all comes back to St Mullins,” said O’Brien.

St Moling created a monastery in the South of Carlow in a place that was known at that time as Ross Broc (Badger Wood). The story goes that Sweeney was king of Dal Araidhe and reigned at the same time as Moling was setting up his monastery around 636 AD.

Legend has it that one morning Moling was reading from his psalter (Book of psalms) by the magic well when The Mad Sweeney flew down from the trees, perched himself at the side of the well and started to eat some watercress. Sweeney was half man, half bird, and totally ‘mad’ having been cursed by, of all people, a bishop. Moling felt sorry for him and told him that he was welcome to stay in the valley under his protection and he was destined to live and die there.

Moling even organised for Muirghil his cook, and the wife of Mongan the pig herder, to look after him. Murighil put out a bit of milk in a cow pat for the mad fella to drink from!

Moling said Sweeney could travel the far corners of Ireland during the day but he must be back every evening so Moling could record his tale, the first real journalist.

Muirghil the Pig herder's wife became the subject of gossip mongers who said Sweeney was getting more from Muirghil than the drop of milk. Word got back to Mongan, her husband, and he stuck a spear in the mad man, wounding him mortally. An enraged Moling prophesied that Mongan would meet his death by being half hung, half burned and drowned, which was fulfilled the very night he killed the Mad man.

Sweeney was reputedly buried in St Mullins and that his ghost roams the area.

O’Brien said the legend needed a statue or a carving to mark it.

"I had put it up on social media. Then one day we were at Tintern and we saw the statues of William Marshal and Isabella.”

He approached Tommy Kelly at Bevel furniture in Saltmills, who sourced a piece of cedar and began carving the Mad Sweeney.

"The story has a bit of craic in it too. There’s a curse in it too. We’ve had a fantastic reaction. Apart from the people taking photographs, wanting to know what it’s about. People are starting to give it (funny) different names now – all the better!” St Mullins has a famed history and is already associated with King Cedric after his links to the area were highlighted on RTÉ last year.

“Why do people come here. They come here because of the river. They come here because they are cycling or canoeing, but you get a lot of day tourists and they’re not walking from here to Graigue. They might go as far as the lock and back. They come and sit down and they want to know a bit about the history, and if you can put a twist on it, all the better.”

O’Brien said the cafe is going well, cautioning that the weather will – as always – be a big factor. "It’s being able to sit beside the river and being accessible. Electricity has come down, but wages have gone up. Then you have the 15c on your bottles of minerals.”

He said the menu is pretty much the same as last year, but customers may soon see a ‘Mad Sweeney’ offering, to enjoy!

As for now O’Brien is hoping plans for a greenway link between St Mullins and New Ross, where a 6k urban, fully lit greenway is set to be opened within two years, will be advanced, to increase footfall in St Mullins.