Glorious artistic reimagination of iconic Sean Kelly time trial in Tipperary

What better way to spend the warm, summer evening of July 13 than attending two premier performances billed among the spectacular 2025 Clonmel Clonmel Junction Arts Festival.

The first was Eamon O’Malley’s daring multimedia experience, 24:09, named after Sean Kelly’s 1985 Nissan Classic time trial of the same length. What followed was ConTempo’s debut of Marian Ingoldsby’s String Quartet No.2, a touching tribute to the late Eimear King. Both were firmly rooted in place, a rapturous celebration of Clonmel’s heritage, landscape, and the feats of its best inhabitants.

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O’Malley’s 3 movement work was gripping from its announcement. 24:09 features 3 distinct elements, all working together to immerse the listener in Kelly’s incredible accomplishment, offering a first person perspective through the visual presentation created and conceptualised by artist John O’Dwyer, which places the audience firmly atop the seat of Kelly’s own bicycle as they are guided through the scenery of his Tipperary route.

Additionally, O’Dwyer captures the deluge of emotions the athlete experienced. from the delirium of a mid-cycle slump, represented by incredible, Lewis Carrol esque psychedelic visuals, to the final sprint determination shown through literal tunneled vision.

This works in harmony with the electronic track, composed by O’Malley, which furthers the sense of presence through its circular sound world which surrounds the listener in a wash of ambient noise. Sounds of the natural world are present such as glorious bird song, which echoed throughout the STAC Chapel’s incredible arched ceiling, in addition to a soundscape of synthetic tone unachievable by any instrument, mirroring the sheer insurmountability of the record.

Both of these elements were prerecorded and timed to be exactly 24 minutes and 9 seconds, the length of Kelly’s trial. However, the final piece of O’Malley’s harmonic puzzle was a glistening piano melody, performed by Eamon live in concert.

While the audience is suitably present in Kelly’s accomplishment, none is more so than O’Malley himself, in order to showcase his work, he is required to keep in perfect time with the prerecorded elements, concluding the piece in exactly 24 minutes and 9 seconds, completing his own musical time trial.

This brilliant compositional idea fosters a tense atmosphere between the performer and the concert goer as they hope to see them maintain tempo, directly mimicking the relationship between Kelly and his supporters.

The piano line is brimming with similarly intelligent composition, like the central theme which follows the contour of a cyclist pedaling, or the triumphant chords which sound as Kelly approaches the finish line.

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Similarly to visuals present in O’Malley’s piece, ConTempo’s premier performance of Marian Ingoldsby’s String Quartet No.2 was accompanied by a slideshow of Eimear King’s work of which the quartet aims to evoke.

This is evident from the start, as King’s fascination with avian life is immediately represented by the beautiful bird song of an off-stage violin solo. What follows is a ceaseless parade of rich, thrilling chords sat atop by alternating sonorous, haunting violin solos and frenzied cello melodies, representing the many facets of King’s work.

As Ingoldsby’s glorious sound world reverberated around the STAC, I sat with the memory of ConTempo’s prior performances, a fantastic illustration of Mozart’s D Minor Quartet, rich in texture and tight in ensemble, an expressive and dynamic performance of Beethoven’s Razoumovsky Quartet’s, which were performed with suitable character and physicality, I came to the realisation that among these legendary compositions, Ingoldsby’s deeply earnest tribute to her friend and colleague was firmly my favourite.

The 2025 Clonmel Junction Arts Festival was a triumph on all fronts, and its concluding suite of performances have affixed themselves as some of my favorites of the year.

O’Malley and Ingoldsby cannot receive enough praise in my eyes for their spellbinding compositions, and ConTempo are equally as deserving for their deeply enjoyable performance of some of the finest string music put to score.
(Alex Hennessy is a student at MTU Cork School of Music)