Giving a voice to the mothers who have lost their children

An audio documentary giving voice to bereaved mothers who lost their children to suicide highlighted the need for more awareness and support.

‘The Colossus’, set in North Clondalkin and led by Leixlip visual artist John Conway, explores the “complexity” of suicide, he explained, by showing the mental health challenges behind it and letting those who were left grieving speak about how they felt.

As the project’s name suggest, suicide is something “with a really big weight and importance,” said John, although it’s still not talked about enough.

This is portrayed by augmented reality sculptures that come to life by scanning QR codes while listening to the documentary, on a self-guided walking route around North Clondalkin.

“It’s to represent something that is not really present but it’s there when you look at it.”

When he received public funding for a project that had to be related to the area, John said he found out North Clondalkin had “high levels of suicide in the 2010s and the 2020s, among the highest in the country.”

He talked to suicide prevention and bereavement support groups, like Connecting for Life, and learned how “impactful” their work can be.

“I thought that it’s not sufficient to say whether mental health is good or bad, you have to look at the complexity of suicide, the context and the feelings of bereavements and loss.

“I wanted to give space to listen to the people involved. These women have been very brave, strong, and after a transformative experience, they are turning into advocates who raise awareness on it.”

The 45-minute, nine-act documentary was made in collaboration with digital artist Elaine Hoey and theatre and film artist Shaun Dunne.

The route starts at North Clondalkin library where the project was launched on Friday, March 28, and the artists welcome the public to book their spots to listen to it on Thursday evenings and Saturday afternoons throughout April.

The project was commissioned by the South Dublin County Council for

IN CONTEXT 5 – Connect, their programme under Per Cent for Art Scheme.

It involved support and collaboration of North Clondalkin Library, suicide prevention group Connecting for Life, Rowlagh Community Centre, Collinstown Community College, North Clondalkin CrossCare, and St Kevin’s Secondary School.

Helplines and support groups are available 24/7 such as the Samaritans Freephone 116 123, Pieta Freephone 1800 247 247, text message service ‘Text About it’ – just text ‘Hello’ to 50808 – or the HSE’s YourMentalHealth Information Line at 1800 111 888 / HERE.