Kindred Spirits
Kindred Spirits is a large stainless steel outdoor sculpture in Bailick Park, Midleton, County Cork, Ireland. Created by artist Alex Pentek, it commemorates the 1847 donation by the Native American Choctaw people to Irish famine relief during the Great Famine, made despite their own hardship and recent experience of the Trail of Tears. The sculpture consists of nine stainless steel eagle feathers arranged in a circle to form a bowl shape, representing an empty bowl of food. Made with over 20,000 welds, it was completed at the National Sculpture Factory in Cork with polishing help from students at Crawford College of Art and Design, and installed in 2015. It was officially unveiled and dedicated in June 2017.
June 2017 © Mike Searle · CC BY-SA 2.0
June 2017 © Mike Searle · CC BY-SA 2.0
March 2026 © Maoileann · CC BY-SA 4.0
September 2016 © Gavin Sheridan · CC BY-SA 4.0
March 2026 © Maoileann · CC BY-SA 4.0
Identification | |
| Title | Kindred Spirits |
| Type | sculpture / monument |
Creator | |
| Artist | Alex Pentek |
Location and ownership | |
| Historical relation to location | there is no direct historical connection between the donation and Midleton |
| Purpose | to promote local history, cultural heritage, and tourism |
| Current location | Bailick Park, Midleton, County Cork, Ireland |
History and restoration | |
| Unveiling and dedication | 18 June 2017 |
| Unveiled by | Chief Gary Batton, Assistant Chief Jack Austin Jr., and Councillor Seamus McGrath |
| Production time | one year |
| Installation date | 2015 |
| Official unveiling ceremony | a formal unveiling ceremony attended by approximately 300 people, including a Choctaw delegation of almost 20 representatives, with prayers, national anthems, music, dances, and an oak tree planting |
Discovery and provenance | |
| Commissioning date | 2013 |
| Fabrication site | National Sculpture Factory, Cork |
| Fabricated by | Alex Pentek with assistance from students of Crawford College of Art and Design |
| Commissioned by | Midleton Town Council |
Physical characteristics | |
| Material | stainless steel |
| Form | bowl shape |
| Arrangement | nine eagle feathers arranged in a circle |
| Welds | more than 20,000 |
| Number of feathers | 9 |
| Height | a little over 6 metres |
Appearance | |
| Uniqueness | no two feathers are identical |
Iconography and meaning | |
| Symbolism | an empty bowl symbolizing famine |
| Depicted subject | eagle feathers used by the Choctaw in ceremonies |
| Commemorates | the 1847 donation by the Choctaw people to Irish famine relief during the Great Famine |
Historical context | |
| Donation value | equivalent to 8.22 troy ounces of physical gold; about US$14,000 in 2020 prices; other estimates vary widely up to tens of thousands of dollars in modern value |
| Choctaw condition at the time | living in hardship and poverty after recent forced displacement on the Trail of Tears, with deaths from hunger and disease and other effects of displacement |
| Choctaw people | a Native American people originally living in present-day Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana |
| Great Famine context | the Great Famine in Ireland (1845–1849), caused by repeated potato blight and marked by about one million deaths and two million emigrants |
| Interpretation | a memorial to the Choctaw people's generosity toward the Irish, and a tribute to endurance, solidarity, kindness, and humanity |
| Donation amount | US$170 |
| Donation date | 1847 |
| Associated people | Gary Batton; Mary Robinson; Leo Varadkar; the Choctaw people; the Irish people |
| Related events | Choctaw representatives took part in a hunger march in County Mayo in 1990; two years later Irish politicians traveled to a Choctaw trek in the United States; Mary Robinson and Leo Varadkar visited the Choctaws in Oklahoma to express gratitude; Mary Robinson was made an honorary Choctaw chief; a scholarship program was created at University College Cork in 2020; during the COVID-19 pandemic, Irish people donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Navajo Nation |
Other | |
| Companion sculpture | Eternal Heart |
| Companion sculpture location | Tuskahoma, Oklahoma |
| Companion sculpture date | 2024 |
| Companion sculpture purpose | to further commemorate Choctaw-Irish relations |