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Picking up a hammer and chisel to learn how to carve granite is one of the best things I've done

I will try my hand at most DIY. But I will be honest: part of me assumed this would be a gentle, dabble-y sort of activity. Reader, it was not

O'Flaherty Stone Workshop in Ballyknockan, Co Wicklow.

Wed, 10 Jun, 2026 - 20:04

Jennifer Sheahan

There are two solid granite window sills in my little cottage, and I adore them. They have presumably been there since the house was built, back in the 1890s, and they are still perfect.

At least four generations have lived in this house, and there is but a slight hint of the wear you would expect from enduring well over a century of use — Irish weather, damp, ladders leaning on them, shopping bags dumped temporarily while keys were fished out, children climbing up to sit and swing their legs.

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