Kevin Sweeney

I've taken a break from making models until September, but I'm doing a lot of research on our architectural heritage. I have come across many sad cases of beautiful buildings abandoned and allowed to crumble, and others modified beyond recognition. This one pictured take the prize for least sensitive reuse of a historically important building, I've come across so far. Built in the 1820s, this is the gate lodge of Baronstown House, Co Westmeath, converted into a very grand cow house. It's so awful and ugly I'm nearly tempted to make a model of it.

My great fear about this project is that it may turn into a Children's Hospital on steroids. According to the Irish Times we had spent 300 million back in 2023, on this project. Presumably more has been spent since. Given that Belfast Grand Central Station was done and dusted for 340 million pounds, I have major doubts that an administration like ours that can spend 300 million and have nothing built for that, is well placed to deliver the metro project on time and on budget.

Conjectural model of medieval Cavan Abbey, based on a late 1500s map of Cavan Town. The tower I posted on May 7th is all that remains of the abbey. This model will be joining my other models on display in the County Museum, until November 1st. I'm hunting for a commission from a glamping site, so I've made a glamping pod as a sample. I also have a new website, which is still a work in progress but is now live at breffnimodels.ie

Another iconic Cavan building, Killykeen Cottage built in 1819 by Lady Farnham, on the shore of Lough Oughter. Anyone who has visited Killykeen Forest Park will recognise it.

A wonderful TV presenter, the personification of old school charm, a real action hero and a perfect gentleman. I have wonderful memories of watching him on BBC in my childhood, I think it was him who first stirred my interest in model making. Quite the contrast to the kind of zany morons that dominate todays media landscape.

A quick, simple project, started this morning and just finished. The Abbeyland Tower in Cavan Town is an iconic Cavan structure. It was the belfry of medieval Cavan abbey, and is the sole surviving fragment of medieval Cavan town.

Some photos from the opening of my exhibition in the County Museum on Saturday. I sold two models.

Well done Patrick. It is a great feeling to see your work on public display in a glass case. I had that feeling last Saturday when the exhibition of my models opened in the County Museum.

The Courthouse is finished.

The museum's poster for my exhibition.

Making good progress with the Courthouse. The date for the opening of my exhibition in the County Museum has been moved to Saturday 26th of April at 2 pm. The title of the exhibition is "Breffni in Miniature: A Scale Model Tribute to Cavan".

Thankfully the only time I was ever summoned to the Courthouse was for jury duty.

My latest build is Cavan Courthouse. Built in 1824, in the 1980s the rear half of the building was demolished and rebuilt. The model will be as was originally built, not the modern version. While it's a pity they demolished half of the original building, the upside is I got plans of it on the planning portal. I'm going to include it in the upcoming exhibition in Cavan County Museum but unroofed, so visitors can see how the models are constructed. I'm using greyboard for this model, which is half the price of mountboard. The date for the exhibitions opening has been moved to Saturday the 26 of April, at 2 pm.

I got the Protestant Hall finished. The exhibition of my models in Cavan County Museum, in Ballyjamesduff starts on April 19th.

Thanks for those wonderful photos Leslie. Inspiring stuff, such fine details reproduced on such a small scale, and conversely wonderful to see such detailed scenes executed on such a grand scale. A vanished world recreated, this is where my interest in modelling is increasingly focusing.