The Making of a Wickerman, an 8ft tall human effigy woven from Sally Rods and flax has been made to coincide with the welcome arrival of Beltaine (May) and its associated age old rituals of May processions by masked, May Boys.

The gigantic tall humanoid wooden structure will be the first such replica statue to be on permanent public display for interpretation anywhere in Ireland or the UK and it will find a ready home with the Aughakillymaude mummers centre's exhibition of mumming sculptures and photographic displays.

Positioned in the mummers centre, together with an information panel, visitors and mumming enthusiasts will be exposed to yet another unexplored aspect of ancient rituals involving fire ceremonies at critical seasonal changeover points in the pastoral year and the largely unresearched phenomenon of human sacrifice as practiced both by Neolithic and Celtic tribes in Ireland and England at chief ritual houses and prominent sites.

The making of the Wickerman statue has involved both painstaking research and periodic reshaping of the statue so as to portray an authentic scaled down replica.

Gordon Johnson, Fermanagh's renowned sculptor of all the mumming models on exhibition at Aughakillymaude was highly sought after by the Mummers Foundation for the project given the fact that Gordon himself had already made a prototype Wickerman figure in 2006 which he ceremoniously burn't as part of a bonfire, green vegetation themed event in Mid Summer.

For Gordon, the wickerman effigy is yet another feather in his cap for the sculptor has an abiding, passionate concern with disappearing folk rituals and traditions that hark back to a mystical Celtic past when the overwhelming concern of people was guaranteeing the fertility of the land.

Given the artistry and time involved, the making of the green wickerman has indeed been a labour of love for Gordon who is undoubtedly one of Fermanagh's unsung heroes when it comes to traditional art people that connects with our ancient mysterious past.