13.06.2020, 14:30 P.M.

“Cracking Stone with Fire, Water, Plugs and Feathers”: a free children's traditional building skills workshop by Philip Quinn of Stonemad, Holycross, County Tipperary for Cruinniú na nÓg 2020.

Nothing compares with the thrill of owning the first pair of eyes to see a 340 million year old life form. To prepare a piece of stone for carving we first need to get it to the rough shape we need – this we do with the aid of plugs and feathers, a most useful tool, the form of which hasn’t change since Roman times. It’s a feast for the senses – the ringing of the metal in the stone...the crunch deep within the stone just before it yields....the smell of fish...Yes! the smell of fish still lingers from the fossilised remains of the creatures it took to create a piece of carboniferous limestone.

Philip's workshop is being delivered on behalf of the Irish Georgian Society and the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht for Cruinniú na nÓg 2020.

(Recommended age group 8-18 years)

To participate in this free conservation craft workshop, which will be delivered through Zoom, it is necessary to download Zoom https://zoom.us/download (free to download) onto your computer/tablet or smart phone in advance of the workshop.

Please click on this live link https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83642807945 no more than ten minutes prior to the commencement of the workshop (i.e, you can join the meeting from 2.20am) and the Irish Georgian Society, who are hosting the workshop will admit you.

Please note that you will be able to hear and see the Irish Georgian Society representative hosting the meetings, as well as the craftsperson delivering the workshop in their studio but we will be unable to see or hear you. You can ask questions at the workshop through the Zoom chat function.