Ships Passing in the Night

Ships Passing in the Night is a community engagement project led by artist James O'hAodha. Over three months, James worked with two community groups in the Sandymount/Ringsend area: children from the Sikh community who have their Temple in the Sandymount area, and the Dodder Sea Scouts. The presence of nearby Poolbeg Lighthouse was used as a symbol and a starting point for the engagement with and between the two groups. The idea of beaconing and beckoning with light, and maritime signalling tradition, have been a guiding focus. Using International Morse code as a shared language, the children learned the basics of Morse communication, progressing to a stage where they were able to send messages to each other. The children also worked with homemade Morse keys, tapping out 'dots' and 'dashes' in light and sound to each other.