See the snake that is growing through Buncrana's Swan Park and delighting the local community

‘Painter,’ as it has been named, has grown from a lovely idea ignited by a Buncrana family to a heartwarming and creative trail that is quite literally ‘snaking’ its way through the park.

The Swan Park snake is created from individual rocks and stones, each one lovingly painted by people across the community in Inishowen, Derry, Donegal and even visitors from as far away as Australia and America.

As each rock is added, the snake grows further and at the last count two weeks ago, there were over 700 rocks making up ‘Painter,’ who has captured the imagination and creativity of not just children but adults as well.

There are rocks painted with superheroes, animals, names, rainbows, quotes, portraits and almost every idea you could imagine.

The generous O’Flaherty’s of the well-known O’Flaherty’s Bar in Buncrana have even promised to organise a party if ‘Painter’ manages to reach all the way into the centre of the park by Christmas.

The delightful project was first started by the Heyns family – parents Chris and Denise and their children Logan (5) and Tegan (3) just a few weeks ago.

Speaking to the Journal, Denise said they are amazed and excited at the love for ‘Painter’ and ‘never expected for it to get this big’.

Denise, who is originally from South Africa and has been living in Buncrana for six years, said she was looking for something creative to do with her children, when she came across a post on Facebook.

"I saw that, many years ago, they had done this in America. I asked my son: ‘Do you want to make a snake and see if it grows?’ and he replied that we couldn’t make a rock snake grow. I told him that we could, if we had a sign and asked people to make it grow.

“So, we painted some rocks, made the sign and placed them in Swan Park – anything to make the kids go for a walk!”

Denise told how Logan and Tegan have watched in awe and excitement as ‘Painter’ – named by Logan – grew beyond anything they imagine.

"We go down quite often and we’ve met people from America and Australia and all over, who have been putting down rocks. It’s so lovely to think of all the fun people are having.”

The family is excited to see how far Painter goes and are delighted with the promise by O’Flaherty’s to host a party.

They’ve also had lots of ‘tags’ on their business’ Facebook page ‘OTP Plumbing’ as people show off their painted rocks.

"I had no clue Painter would be so famous!” laughed Denise.

"The kids are loving every moment of it. My five-year-old tells everyone how its his snake. He loves the superhero ones and each time we go down to the park they get so excited, looking at the different designs.

Swan Park holds a special place in the family’s hearts and Denise paid tribute to the local community and those in the surrounding areas, for their enthusiasm for Painter.

"It shows what a good community we have in Buncrana and the surrounding areas. Everyone is taking part.”