Seamus Connolly is one of Ireland’s leading bronze sculptors, best known for his highly acclaimed life-size portraits. Seamus runs a bronze foundry in West Clare and rather uniquely, takes all his work from inception in clay, through to being finally cast in bronze in his own workshop. Although his main body of work includes life-size bronze portraits of various public figures, from John B Keane in Listowel to GAA all-star Páidi Ó Sé in Ventry, Co Kerry, his heart, as an artist, definitely lies in his more personal, stylised pieces. He has a fantastic reputation for these individual, quirky sculptures, most of which are inspired by animals and nature and sit particularly well in people’s homes.