History Of Carved Stones, Memorials And Tombstones

The craft of carving stone has always worn a shroud of mystery. The long coveted secrets of Giza, the magnificent temples of Ankor Wat, the brooding heads on Easter Island, continue to fascinate and to provoke many questions, to which there are few answers, but many theories.

Ireland boasts an enviable heritage of stone carving specialists, dating from before the mighty tombs of the Pharaohs, eloquently detailing the passage of time, the history of peoples (both friendly and hostile) who graced Irish shores down through the ages. Celtic footprints lay scattered over Ireland including The Turoe Stone(circa 1st Century B.C.) and CastleStrange stone, Co. Galway, Newgrange (3500 B.C), Co. Meath, and Dun Angus, on the Aran Islands. Those magical Celtic spirals, The silent Standing Stones, monoliths, sentinels watching over us all, burial grounds and ceremonial landscapes with portals to the otherworld marked by Dolmens (2500 B.C.), Ogham Stones with endlessly debatable messages and the emblematic Celtic High Crosses(8-12 Century) have always possessed the ability to make us think.

Natural stone has a presence and resonance of its own. Stone possesses its own beauty which not only demands but requires respect, honoring the masters of the past whilst challenging those of today. Lettering in natural stone summons a response from the soul, regardless of whether it is machined and endlessly smooth, riven or simply tooled. It should create interest without detracting from its immediate surroundings, whilst gracefully communicating its inherent message. The increasing lack of response we feel towards manufactured and reproduced objects, has made stone carving a subject of greater attention and attracted interest from all sides of the commercial and artistic community, instinctively craving rarity, artistry and meaning.

To compose and bring to life even a small stone… demands respect for the traditions and skills of the ancient masters. Cutting stone can only be learnt and understood through years of diligent practice and apprenticeship. Stone carving is a kaleidoscope of skills brought together in order to create something from the raw material of natural stone. Skills needed include: knowledge of tools, architectural history, anatomy studies, figurative studies, ornamental study, clay modelling, portrait studies, project management, boundless vision, and above all, time and patience! It is a pleasure to work with my hands on a project and see it evolve, from concept, to drawings, through to a finished piece. It is a realisation of the clients ideas and wishes expressed. I am constantly humbled by the job and the sheer beauty of stone. Using the traditions and techniques, skills and tools of our heritage I follow my passion for excellence, purity of design, pursuit of perfection in striving to perfectly convey the concept or idea in stone, through the experience pasted to me from my masters and their masters before them and so on back to the beginning of time.

With any work, from The Pieta to a Connemara dry stone wall, there is a fragile balance of hand to eye co-ordination, involving the delicate designing, the careful cutting, the continually evolving process of creating the piece of work. Often an individual stone goes through several changes on the drawing board before it is even cut. It is always a challenge to respect the stone by not doing too much and not doing too little, the balance needs to be just right. As with anything else, a stone can be “over designed”, in the words of the brilliant architect Mies Van Der Rohe, “Less is More”. Great thought, greater concentration and precise execution is taken over every decision.

My work and that of the many masters before me, like my Great Great Grandfather and my Uncle, can now and forevermore be seen throughout Europe, on Westminster Cathedral, gargoyle stones on St. Georges Chapel in Windsor Castle, and the churchyards of Britain and Ireland. It has been said that a picture says a thousand words… but I believe that stone has to be seen and felt to be truly meaningful.