Fred Conlon: Fred Conlon, who has died aged 61, was the creator of many public sculptures around the country, including the bronze figure of Parnell in 11 and the Famine Tree in Sligo.
Diagnosed with a brain tumour last year, until the time of his death he was working on a multimedia installation about his illness, based on the motif of Balor being slain by his own grandson, Lugh, at the battle of Moytura.
His work reflects his versatility as an artist and his understanding of materials. He produced both abstract and figurative sculpture and had a particular interest in the concept of "human geometry", whereby the onlooker is required to adapt to the scale, proportions and form of a piece of sculpture.
"[ The sculpture] should beckon you into its space, to travel its surface and edge, to sense, to touch, to peer into and ponder," he wrote. "As you leave, it should invite you to return another time so that it can communicate further."
Born on October 14th, 1943, in Killeenduff, Easkey, Co Sligo, he was the son of Pat and Mary Conlon. He attended the local national school and Easkey vocational school. Despite lacking any formal training in art, he nevertheless won a five-year scholarship to the National College of Art, the first such scholarship to be awarded by Co Sligo VEC.
Having studied the rudiments of art in the preliminary school of the NCA, he opted to follow the diploma course in sculpture. He was deeply impressed by the humanity, good humour and visionary intellect of his mentor, Domhnall Ó Murchadha, who later became director of the college.
He obtained his diploma in 1965 and spent a further year studying the principles of teaching, qualifying in 1966. He taught art at Navan vocational school for several years before returning to the NCA in 1969 to join the staff of the school of sculpture.
His appointment came at a time of student unrest marked by sit-ins, closures, expulsions and the dismissal of staff deemed to be sympathetic to students' demands for change.
As a young part-time teacher, he did not wish to become entangled in the politics of the situation. On one occasion when the college was closed, he was employed by the National Museum to make drawings of objects found on the site of an archaeological dig at High Street and Winetavern Street.
He resumed teaching at the NCA when courses recommenced. However, he felt that the prevailing atmosphere was not conducive to teaching and consequently returned to Sligo in the early 1970s. There, having taught for a year in the vocational school, he took up an appointment as a lecturer in the regional technical college, where he was instrumental in developing the diploma course in art.
He lectured in sculpture and drawing at Sligo RTC until 1989 when he took early retirement so that he could devote himself full-time to sculpture. He was successful in securing a number of important public commissions in the 1980s and 1990s, working mainly in bronze, stone and wood.
He was an exhibitor at the Independent Artists, Royal Hibernian Academy and Oireachtas exhibitions, and his work was also featured in exhibitions in Cork, Dingle, Scotland and India and is included in private collections in Ireland, Britain, the United States, Germany and Australia.
He was an enthusiastic participant in sculpture symposiums in Ireland and abroad. He believed that the symposium movement, which facilitates the inter- action of sculptors and the general public, was the best way to design site-specific sculpture and foster communication between sculptors and their audiences.
He is survived by his wife, Kathleen; daughters Orla and Elaine; sons Niall, Pauric and Finn; and sisters Bridie and Nora.
Anthony Frederick (Fred) Conlon: born October 14th, 1943; died February 24th, 2005