Cork City Council commissioned 'Listening Posts', the first permanent sound installation in the city, to commemorate the many migrants who left the city from Penrose Quay. Penrose Quay was the traditional departure point from the city of boats such as the Inisfallen. Four modest, beacon-like stainless steel forms are placed at intervals on the edge of the quay from which emigrants began their night journey to Britain and beyond.

The ‘posts’ function primarily as vessels for four multifaceted sound scores. Using interviews with emigrants, their descendants, those they left behind, those who worked on the ship, those wishing to return and those who are glad they got away, combined with marine, industrial, musical and abstract sound elements, WRIGHT, Hanrahan and sound designer Dan Jones built up rich, layered soundscapes, each of which has its own internal logic and also contributes to the overall experience afforded by listening to all four posts.