Stone craftsmen carve their own place in history
“Our craft is the oldest in the world. Our handiwork is seen everywhere, in town, country and village. The men who have gone before us have left a heritage to be proud of and we feel our own contribution has been for the good.
“With hammer, mallet and chisel we have shaped and fashioned rough boulders. We are a little group of Craftsmen doing our work as well as we can.”
This is how Cork stonecutter Seamus Murphy eloquently describes his fellow craftsmen in the preface to his book Stone Mad. And stonecutters, it is said, do not pick their trade up off the ground. They are born to it.
Stone is everywhere. Ancient glacial boulders, pebbles smoothed by endless tides, small stones containing fossils of long-vanished species. Stone and its many manifestations have always fascinated me, from complex and beautiful cathedrals, cunningly constructed beehive huts the giant megaliths at Stonehenge and Avebury to West Cork’s unique stone circles, small, intimate constructions invariably sited in breathtaking locations.
For many thousands of years, stone has been the medium of choice for many craftspeople, used to create a huge variety of sacred and utilitarian objects. The oldest known works of representational art are stone carvings. Marks carved into rock will survive where painted work will not. And some of the earliest figurines carved in stones such as tuff and limestone may be as old as 800,000 years.
These earliest examples of stone carvings are the result of hitting or scratching a softer stone with a harder one, although sometimes materials such as antlers are known to have been used on softer stone. The development of iron made possible stone carving tools that were more durable. But what is quite extraordinary is that for most of human history, stone workers have used the humble hammer and chisel as the basic tools for working stone. And they still do.
Michelangelo claimed that it was his job to free the form that was trapped inside the stone block, a belief that resulted in some stunningly beautiful creations. But apart from its capacity to lend itself to the creation of artistic masterpieces, most types of stone are easier to find and work with than metal ores.
It can be dug from the surface and carved with hand tools and it stands the test of time in way that wood does not. Stone comes in many varieties and artists have abundant choices in colour, quality and relative hardness.
Ireland has an especially rich tradition in the use of stone. The Dry Stone Wall Association (DSWAI) of Ireland, founded in 2009, is dedicated to spreading the word to a wider audience of the importance of dry stone structures to our heritage. Their aim is to create an awareness of the need for preserving the craft of dry stone building which graces so much of Ireland’s rural landscape.
And to that end, DSWAI is currently at work organising lectures, exhibitions and workshops along with training and certification programmes.
Victor Daly, originally from Midleton, is an experienced stonecutter who has worked extensively in Ireland and abroad.
Victor has set up his home and workshop on the Sheep’s Head Peninsula and he told me about his abiding passion for his craft.
“Yes I have. When I was preparing to leave school, I wanted to take up block laying but I couldn’t get an apprenticeship. And even then, I knew I only wanted to work with stone. But it has always been a closed trade, passed down from father to son. My father talked to a local man who carved headstones, told him I was looking for an apprenticeship and luckily for me, he said he’d take me on.”
“It takes seven years and like every other apprentice, I started from the bottom. Learning everything – cutting, polishing, mixing mortar and drawing. There’s a lot to learn and I loved the process. Then in 1985, I saw a girl doing freestyle carving, abstract work that really attracted me, so I took that up as well. I began freelancing, going from yard to yard and doing my own work too, one off original pieces.”
“We’re offering one-day courses for those who already have an interest and who perhaps want to upskill a bit and also for people who may be down this way on holiday and who’ve always wanted to try their hand at working with stone. They only need the basic tools and they can create something that is original and special to take home with them. I belong to the Lettering Guild, which has just a dozen members. House names, sometimes made from a piece of rock from the property, are very popular and are a unique way of making your home even more special. It’s important to be able to turn your hand to all aspects of the work, carving, cutting, headstones and Lettering, and I particularly enjoy passing on the skills I’ve learned over twenty years.”
“It’s very important to me. As well as the work on headstones and my abstract sculptures I’ve been involved in landmark projects to conserve and restore St Mary’s Cathedral in Edinburgh and Barryscourt Castle in Cork. I’ve worked extensively on restoration projects with Historic Scotland, and while I was working there, I received a National Progression Award in Masonry Conservation. Here in Ireland I’ve worked with the Office of Public Works, and I’m a member of the Dry Stone Wall Association of Ireland.”
“It is. Stone can vary in strength, size, and colour. It can be surprisingly soft and it can run out on you. Stone can take me to places I wouldn’t have dreamed of.”
