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arts · Sunday 28 June 2026 · Various 
Mary O'Malley: Setting
At Artlink at Fort Dunree · Fort Dunree, Buncrana, Co. Donegal
At Artlink at Fort Dunree · Fort Dunree, Buncrana, Co. Donegal
A ceramic installation that takes the idea of “setting” - the placing of a table, the laying of a brick, the hardening of clay - and turns it into something quietly unsettling sits at the Saldanha Gallery inside Fort Dunree for the summer of 2026. Mary O’Malley is an Irish-American artist with serious credentials - educated at the Royal College of Art in London and the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, with work held in collections worldwide and shown at the British Ceramics Biennial and the Saatchi Gallery. This is her first solo show in Inishowen, and it was made here: O’Malley spent time at Fort Dunree and let the place do the talking.
The installation is built around sculptural ceramic bricks that crumble, stretch and spill over a table edge as though approaching the point of no return. Ceramic bees and butterflies hover above the composition. A gold disc shines beyond the table. O’Malley describes it as a scene of “collapse, return, and transformation” - the kind of arrested decay you see all over Fort Dunree, where military stonework sits at the edge of the Atlantic, cracking slowly, being repaired, cracking again.
The title “Setting” earns its keep by carrying multiple meanings at once: a table setting, a building term, the moment clay stiffens, the act of placing something in a landscape. The work was created over more than a year and draws directly from the military architecture and visible erosion at the fort. Running alongside it is “Still Life,” an open-call group show featuring local artists responding to the same theme across different media. The launch takes place on Saturday 28 June, 6pm to 8pm, with admission free and all welcome.
The exhibition is part of the Earagail Arts Festival 2026 visual arts programme, which runs across Donegal through July.
Fort Dunree sits on the western shore of Lough Swilly, about 8km north of Buncrana on the R238 coastal road. From Buncrana town it is a straightforward drive along the shoreline. From Letterkenny, allow around 45 minutes via the N13 and then north through Buncrana. There is no reliable public transport to the fort itself, so a car is the practical option. Parking is available on site at the fort.
Fort Dunree is a destination in its own right - the military museum, the cannon platforms overlooking the lough, and the coastal views towards the Fanad Peninsula are worth taking your time over. Buncrana town has a good range of cafes and pubs, and the beach at Lisfannon is just a few minutes south. There is more to see in Buncrana and across Co. Donegal.
Heading to Artlink at Fort Dunree in Buncrana? Donegal has plenty more to see. Read the Buncrana area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.