Billy the Blacksmith: The Story Behind Innishannon’s Most Beloved Sculpture

At the western end of Innishannon stands a sculpture that speaks not of kings or battles, but of something more enduring — the dignity of craft, the warmth of community, and the love of a village for one of its own.

Most village monuments commemorate the powerful. Innishannon chose to honour a blacksmith.

At the western end of the village, just before the entrance to Dromkeen Wood, stands the Billy the Blacksmith sculpture — one of the most warmly regarded pieces of public art in County Cork. Created by local sculptor Don Cronin, it captures a man at work at his forge, and it tells a story that goes far deeper than the bronze from which it is cast.

The O’Connell Family and Their Forge

The O’Connell family operated a working forge at this location in Innishannon for five consecutive generations, making it the longest-running family forge in Ireland. That is an extraordinary claim — five generations of the same family, at the same anvil, at the same location, serving the horses and farmers and travellers of West Cork across more than a century of Irish history.

At its best, a forge was never just a place where metal was worked. It was a social hub — a place where farmers and merchants would wait while their horses were shod, where news was exchanged, where the village’s life flowed through in all its variety. The O’Connell forge, positioned at the village’s western exit on the road to West Cork, saw everyone who passed through.

Billy

Billy was one of the later generations of the O’Connell family, and he was a much-loved figure in Innishannon — a craftsman of the old school, a fixture of village life, and a man whose absence was deeply felt when he was gone. The decision to commission a sculpture in his honour was a spontaneous act of community affection, driven by the simple desire to say: this man mattered. This family mattered. This craft mattered.

The Sculpture

The sculpture was created by local artist Don Cronin, who also created the Horse and Rider sculpture at the village’s eastern entrance. Don Cronin’s work is characterised by its warmth and its deep connection to place and community — and both of his Innishannon sculptures exemplify this.

The restored forge building beside the sculpture adds further context and atmosphere — standing here, you can almost hear the ring of the anvil and the hiss of hot iron in the cooling trough.

A Perfect Place to Pause

The Billy the Blacksmith sculpture sits at a beautiful junction in Innishannon — the edge of the village, the beginning of Dromkeen Wood, the western horizon opening up ahead. It is the kind of place that invites you to stop, to slow down, and to think about the layers of life that have accumulated here over the centuries.

Do not rush past it.

→ Explore the full history of Innishannon