Story behind Manchester's new art trail featuring George Best and Morrissey and where to find amazing works

Many people will recognise artist Mark Kennedy’s mosaic work from the façade of Afflecks Palace – a colourful encyclopaedia of iconic Manchester imagery and famous faces. For his latest city centre project, however, he is turning his attention to Ireland.

The Irish Nation project is collaboration between Mark and Irish Mancunian, an organisation that has been promoting Irish culture and events in the city since 2016, with support from Wild In Art. The trail features 17 mosaics of famous Irish people from throughout history, each located in venues.

We went on a tour of some of the mosaics with the organisers to find out more about the project and the Irish icons that have inspired it.

“It’s all about storytelling”

It all started a decade ago, after Irish Nation founder Ray Doyle saw that Mark was working on a portrait of playwright Samuel Beckett. It was initially intended to be a series of writers but soon developed into something much bigger, a celebration of Irish identity that means a lot to Mark. 

He said: “I do have Irish heritage, but I've never considered myself anything but Mancunian, and I still don't, but what an education it is. Irish culture is so rich and to go into it, delve so deeply. I still believe I've not even touched the surface of it. Really incredible, beautiful. So sad, so uplifting, just beautiful and enriching.”

There are 17 images in total, whittled down from 20. The final number was chosen as a nod to St Patrick’s Day, which falls on 17 March. Selecting the subjects of each piece was one of the hardest parts of the process. Ray told Manchester World that he gave Mark some guidance, but most of the inspiration came from the artist.  

Mark said: “You take a subject matter and break it down to find the image that most suits the trail, yourself, what you want to make. For me, as a maker, it's about the shadow and effect of the face. Some things just don't work - a lot of football stuff does not work because they're so blurred the images because they're moving.”

One of Mark’s favourite mosaics in the series is the late Sinead O’Connor. For this one, Mark enlisted help from his assistant Mary Goodwin, who created the piece. As Mark explained: “I want to have a female element in my work because I find my work is more punk and very male. I learnt this from Mark E Smith of The Fall –  if you bring a woman into your work, you gain a different scene that you cannot as a man. A woman's inclusion was very important.”  

The chosen settings for each of the images in the series all have some connection to the subject. For example, Oscar Wilde is on display at the Queer Lit bookshop in Ancoats, John F Kennedy is at the Science and Industry Museum as the US president in office during the moon landing and late musicians Sinead O’Connor and Shane McGowan are both at the New Century concert hall. 

Some of the pieces have even contributed to further exhibitions at their venues. The mosaic of George Best at the National Football Museum is on display alongside a pair of his boots and the shirt worn at his testimonial match in Belfast, 1988. Over at the People’s History Museum, the mosaic of Constance Markievicz is to be accompanied by an exhibition on her links to the Suffragette movement. 

These connections are another important part of the storytelling process for Mark, both in this series and throughout his career. Mark said: “A long long time ago I made a picture of Sean Connery as James Bond on Afflecks Palace and a lot of people said: what's that got to do with Manchester? Well, he was actually asked to play for Manchester United because he was such a good footballer.

“I always find a connection. Like Brendan Behan being in Strangeways, Luke Kelly lived in Manchester for a while, Morrissey, I could go on. I think that's what work is. It's just a pile of stories plugged together. It's not really about work, it's about storytelling in my book. Some people don't think I'm an artist, they think I'm a commercial artist, but I'm actually just a storyteller and I use tiles now to tell stories, and collage now as well.”

What you need to know

The Irish National art trail will be on display at 17 venues across Manchester city centre throughout March, the month of St Patrick’s Day. Each image is accompanied by a QR code that will take you to the Irish Nation website, which has detailed profiles on each of the Irish people featured. 

The full list of mosaics:

• Luke Kelly at Hallé St Peter’s
• Oscar Wilde at QueerLit
• Morrissey of The Smiths on 1st Floor at Smith’s Tribute in Afflecks
• Katie Taylor at Koffee Pot
• Eileen Gray at Manchester Craft and Design Centre
• Sinead O’Connor at New Century Hall
• Shane MacGowan at New Century Hall
• George Best at the National Football Museum
• Brendan Behan at the Royal Exchange Theatre
• Seamus Heaney at the Portico Library
• James Joyce at Manchester Central Library
• Constance Markievicz at the People’s History Museum
• John F. Kennedy at Manchester Science and Industry Museum
• Samuel Beckett at 53Two
• The Quiet Man at HOME
• Phil Lynott at the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM)
• Bridget O'Donnell (Famine Mother and her children) on the side of the Thirsty Scholar