O'Connell, Eilís (1953– )

Irish sculptor, born in Cork, who has established an international reputation for her abstract work. She represented Ireland at the São Paolo Biennale, Brazil, in 1985 and has been the recipient of a fellowship administered by the Arts Councils of Ireland and Northern Ireland, which allowed her to work for a time in New York, USA.

O'Connell has created a number of public sculptures in Ireland, such as The Wind Column (1982; Londonderry, Northern Ireland), a monument to the US aviator Amelia Earhart, and her works are also on display in other countries. A recent project is the design for a bridge in concrete and steel for the River Avon at Bristol. In her smaller-scale work she uses a huge variety of media from organic materials such as feathers to steel, stone, and slate, as illustrated by Skillet (1986; Allied Irish Bank collection, Dublin).