This one-day workshop brings together stone craft practitioners, conservation specialists and academics to discuss techniques of working stone in terms of quarrying, construction and finish in eighteenth-century architecture. Participants will discuss recent and current conservation projects in Britain and Ireland and provide insights into the skills, training and materials used during the eighteenth century.

9:30-10:00:        Registration

10:00-10:10:      Welcome: Christine Casey, Principal Investigator, STONE-WORK (Trinity College Dublin)

10:10-10:30       Introduction: Melanie Hayes & Andrew Tierney (TCD): STONE-WORK: recovering eighteenth-century craft techniques

SESSION 1: CONSERVATION AND RESTORATION:

Chair: Lynda Mulvin (University College Dublin)

10:30-11:00       Audrey Farrell & Alan Keenan, conservation architects, OPW: Managing stone, conservation and replacement of the Four Court’s capitals

11:00-11:30       Tim Crawley, stone carver: Hawksmoor's ‘Beasts of Bloomsbury’: restoring ancient wonders

11:30-12:00 COFFEE BREAK

12:00-12:30       Sophie Chessum, Senior Curator, National Trust: Use, re-use and repair of stone at Clandon Park

12:30-13:00       David Paton, sculptor and researcher (Falmouth University): ‘Bashing Granite’: Labour and Creativity in Cornwall’s Granite-working Heritage

13:00-13:15       Panel discussion: morning speakers

13:15-14:15 LUNCH BREAK

SESSION 2: PROPERTIES AND PERFORMANCE

14:15-14:30       Melanie Hayes & Andrew Tierney (TCD): Granite: architectural use in 18th century Britain and Ireland

14:30-15:00       Panel Discussion: David Paton, sculptor (Falmouth University); John McEvoy, stone mason and carver (McEvoy & Sons, Ballyknockan), Killian O’Flaherty, stone mason and carver (O’Flaherty Stone, Ballyknockan); Richie Healy, sculptor; Patrick Wyse Jackson (Geologist, TCD) & Ruth Siddall (Geologist, TCD)

15:00-15:15       Audience discussion

15:15-15:45 COFFEE BREAK

15:45-16:15       TBC

16:15-16:30       Andrew Tierney & Melanie Hayes (TCD): Limestone/Sandstone: Architectural use in 18th century Britain and Ireland.

16:30-17:00       Panel Discussion: Stephen Burke, sculptor/carver; Richie Healy, sculptor/lettering; Jason Ellis, sculptor; Gunther Wolters, mason and carver; Patrick Wyse Jackson (geologist, TCD) & Louise Caulfield (geologist, TCD)

17:00-17:10       Audience discussion

17:10-17:20       Closing discussion: Stone in practice, now and the future             

                             Chair: Christine Casey (TCD)

Disclaimer: This work is supported by an ERC grant (STONE-WORK, 10.3030/101096629) funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the Euro-pean Research Council Executive Agency. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

Acknowledgment: We gratefully acknowledge the support of Dublin City Council and the Dublin City Strategic Heritage Plan 2024 – 2029.