IRISH artist Luke Alen-Buckley is set to stage a rock show like no other – the stars of the show are all of 340 MILLION years old.

Luke has arranged for three ancient glacial boulders to be shipped from Ireland to the historic Nevill Holt estate in the UK’s Leicestershire.

There, the rocks are being suspended in huge steel rings to create a remarkable contemporary sculpture named The Morrígan.

Set in stunning gardens designed by Chelsea gold medal winner Rupert Golby, the three-piece monumental work will be the centrepiece of a new eco-exhibition.

Each of the sculptures stands three metres tall and comprises a 15-tonne sculpted blue limestone glacial erratic rock from Tipperary set in a steel ring. Each is an estimated 360 million years old.

Luke works in all types of boulders from across the British Isles and Ireland, and rescued these three before they could be unceremoniously crushed for limestone aggregate. 

He has long been fascinated by the geological history, memory, and metamorphosis of the Earth, with a scientific and environmental approach to art.

In his first sculptural series, he used boulders deposited by the ice sheet at the foot of the Knockmealdown mountains, close to his studio in Co Waterford.

The Morrígan takes its title from the ancient Celtic pre-pagan goddess, also described as ‘phantom queen’ who appears to date from around the Copper Age.

She is one of the most complex figures in Irish mythology, her genealogy representing three different women in one being, linked to sovereignty and fate, war and death, and rebirth and hope.

Sixteen further sculptures will be arranged around the grounds alongside Nevill Holt’s permanent collection of British art and sculpture including works by Antony Gormley.

The exhibition runs in conjunction with the annual Opera and Summer festivals staged on the estate, which can trace its history all the way back to the 13th century. See www.nevillholtopera.co.uk.