The forest that won’t forget is a national public artwork dedicated to the women and families across Ireland affected by the failures of the CervicalCheck programme. This living, breathing public artwork is an anti-monument that publicly acknowledges a major historic injustice in women’s healthcare.
The forest that won’t forget is an ecologically rich 16-acre site located in Co. Clare. It functions as a physical and metaphorical place of unity, care and resistance. It is a place which recognises the truth and experiences of those affected, and commits to never forgetting.
It is a place for current and future generations. A place for remembering the past. A place for imagining the future. A place with an eternal legacy that will outlive us all.
Context
The CervicalCheck Failure, Vicky Phelan, and 221+
The 221+ Patient Support Group was established in July 2018 to provide information, advice, and support to the women and families directly affected by failures in the CervicalCheck Screening Programme that came to light following Vicky Phelan’s court case in April 2018.
Vicky had brought a case against the HSE and Quest Laboratories claiming medical negligence and breach of duties for not informing her of the audit results. The case was settled in the High Court in April 2018 but Vicky bravely refused to sign a non-disclosure agreement. Hundreds more women were identified as having very similar experiences.
221+ provides a variety of individual and group-based supports for members, including but not limited to one-to-one support via email and phone, regular member conferences, a private member’s website, the production of member resources such as videos, organising workshops and courses, sharing external resources and liaising with health organisations amongst other stakeholders on behalf of members. 221+ patient representatives, staff and members also work with stakeholders to improve patient engagement and the accessibility of health services, campaign to make positive policy and legislative change and commission research. 221+ also works with cancer support organisations in Ireland and participates in national and international gynaecological cancer networks.
The group is governed by a steering committee, which includes 221+ members and representation from the Irish Cancer Society and the Marie Keating Foundation. 221+ also has representation from the Irish Patients Association. 221+ regularly engages with their membership to ensure the work of the organisation is led by their voices and needs.
A key request from 221+ members in the original strategic plan was to commission an artwork to memorialise the various losses they have experienced. 221+ Manager Ceara Martyn began researching suitable artists to work with members, and facilitate the process in a way that would creatively engage and empower members.
A long-term art project
The beginning
In 2021, artists Fiona Whelan and John Conway were commissioned by 221+ to lead a nationwide art project to respond to the complex lived experiences of women and families unjustly failed by the HSE’s CervicalCheck Screening Programme. John’s work is characterised by innovative multi-disciplinary projects produced in response to sensitive community & health contexts. Fiona’s art practice is committed to exploring and responding to systemic power relations and inequalities through long-term collaborations with diverse groups. Combining their skills and methodological approaches, this artist duo began working with 221+ members across Ireland to build relationships and gain insights into the lived experience of those affected by this historic injustice in women’s healthcare.
A long-term collaboration
In early 2022, following an open call to 221+ members, a core group was developed to lead the project. The core group includes Lyn Fenton, Elizabeth Byrne, Wendy Stringer, Nicola O’ Sullivan and Carla Duggan alongside the artists John and Fiona. Dispersed throughout Ireland, this group of seven, meets regularly online to engage in creative processes, share ideas and co-develop invitations to creatively connect with the wider membership.
Throughout 2022 and 2023, the artists, supported by the core group, developed a series of workshops and events as part of a series of 221+ regional members’ conferences. These encounters took place at the National Museum of Ireland at Collins Barracks Dublin and The Model in Sligo, as well as conference venues in Cork, Athlone and Limerick. Through mapping, sharing food, photography, printing, writing, performing and conversation, the ambition of this process was to nurture connectivity and solidarity between members, to explore and test appropriate art forms, to share and listen to lived experiences, and build understandings on the complexities of the CervicalCheck failure. Throughout this process, the artists were listening out for and co-developing ideas towards the potential of suitable creative cultural responses.
The development of artwork
Emerging from this nationwide collaborative process, a series of written, visual and performative artworks were conceived, intending to publicly mark and communicate this major injustice of our time. The first artwork to be shared publicly is a text called “I deserve” which was first performed by the core group at a 221+ members’ event in The Model, Sligo in October ‘22, and subsequently published in Dr Gabriel Scally’s “Review of the Implementation of Recommendations of the Scoping Inquiry into the CervicalCheck Screening Programme” in November ‘22.
In response to emerging visual ideas and members’ desires and needs for a commemorative public work, the concept of a living artwork gained traction in the conversations. So too did the desire for a shared place to go, a place that would hold memories, and never forget this injustice that had been enacted on women across Ireland. The project team subsequently contacted Hometree, to partner us in this endeavour, and find a suitable native woodland. In September '24, the artists and 221+ in partnership with Hometree, launched the most ambitious and significant response from the project to date and titled it The forest that won’t forget.
Future ambitions
The launch of The forest that won’t forget signals the beginning of a new phase of work which, funding dependent, will develop in a number of ways. This includes the development of infrastructure on the land to accommodate and welcome 221+ members, guests and publics. The artists and core group also have an ambition to develop a future exhibition, publication, and the programming of further artistic, ecological and educational projects on the land.
The land
The forest that won’t forget is a 16-acre site situated north of the town of Ennis, in Co. Clare between the Slieve Aughty mountain range to the east, and the elevated Burren plateau to the west. The site rises to a peak of 297 metres above sea level, with views looking west over Inchicronan Lough. It is a rich and ecologically diverse site.
Formally, the land is positioned over limestone bedrock and has the associated vegetation cover. This consists of emerging woodlands of hazel, expansive areas of bracken, with heavy carpets of bluebell across the site. The site is roughly one third newly formed woodland scrub, one third open space and one third old woodland. On the western boundary of the site there is a pocket of what appears to be long established woodland, consisting of ash and sessile oak, with willow, blackthorn and hazel in the understory. Further ecological assessment will reveal more about this woodland.
The site has an intriguing and unusual feature located on the western facing slope. A large slab of peat has been deposited, possibly by historical glacial processes. This peat area has species such as molinia, heather and bilberry, which wouldn't typically be found in a limestone site. This is another aspect of the site that deserves further ecological investigation.
One striking feature of interest is a 100 year old crab apple tree, whose many daughters can also be found on the site.
Overall, The forest that won’t forget is a unique site which has been spared the intensification seen on most land in the area. There is huge floral diversity and almost certainly the site will reveal itself to have rich mammalian diversity, including pine martens, badgers and even otters.