When it comes to Old World stone craft, italy May be the first country that comes to mind, or perhaps Spain or one of the Middle Eastern countries. Ireland is probably not on the list. That's ironic, because anyone who's been to ireland or seen photos knows the country is literally built of stone - From the 4,000-year-old burial sites to medieval castles to contemporary landscaping and buildings. Stone is everywhere.
This lack of awareness of Irish stone is changing, though - perhaps because of a growing focus on Celtic culture or maybe because Irish limestone is more accessible in the United States than it once was. Over the past 10 years, Irish Limestone-US has spread the word about this visually striking and extremely durable stone and made it more available in this country.
"Everyone knows that Italy and Spain and Israel have great stone, but for some reason Ireland is never considered," said Robert Spencer, who owns Irish Limestone-US, along with his wife, Geraldine O'Donnell. "It's too bad, because Irish limestone is a beautiful stone and it's certainly stood the test of time."
Indeed, Irish blue limestone was created about 370 million years ago as the floor of a warm, coastal sea. Shell fragments, coral, and sea plants washed into the soft lime mud of the sea floor and became trapped. Today, these fossils appear distinctly in this re-crystallized calcite limestone, which underlies almost twothirds of the emerald island.
The stone is highly resilient, with a density of 165 to 168 pounds per square foot - more like granite than other limestone. It also has a low absorption rate. This makes it a good choice for floor tiles, sidewalks, building exteriors, and countertops. In New England, where there is a large Irish-American population, the stone has been in regular use for almost 20 years, and during that time it's proven its durability. "It stands up well in the Northeast where we get a lot of freezing and thawing, because it has no effect on the stone," said Spencer.
Irish Limestone-US has three colors available: Irish Grey is the lightest color and the most popular, while Irish Blue is somewhat darker. Both contain unique remnants of fossils and shells. Irish Fossil is the darkest - almost black - and the rarest. Distinct white circles of shell fossils are scattered throughout it, making a dramatic contrast. Finishes for all three can range from a textured, rustic surface to a highly polished one.
Spencer and O'Donnell, both from Boston, were drawn to Irish limestone when he was working in the landscaping and building business. They took a vacation to Ireland and were fascinated by the use of the beautiful stone throughout the country. They also met Francis McCormack, a master mason and founder of Irish Natural Stone Products, LTD. Spencer began using the Irish limestone in his landscaping business.
In the late 1990s, McCormack approached Spencer and O'Donnell about opening a U.S. company to more easily supply Irish limestone to American customers. The couple jumped at the chance and incorporated Irish Limestone-US in 2000. The business started out providing fabrication and installation services, but Spencer and O'Donnell soon realized they wanted to focus exclusively on making Irish limestone available in the United States. Early on, interest was most prominent in the Boston area, but word has spread outside New England to places like Florida, Chicago, and Arizona.
Left, above: This Cape Cod terrace of 4cm thick Blue and Fossil paving stone with flamed, non-slip finish was one element of an interior/exterior residential project that used nearly 4,000 square feet of Irish Limestone. Above: A traditional hand-finished Celtic Cross of light honed and hammered Blue limestone was scaled down in size to fit a residential garden setting. At 40 inches tall, it is still generous and impressive in size and detail.
Most of the stone is used for residential and commercial projects, but it is also prized for special projects, particularly if they have Irish significance. For instance, when descendents of Annie Moore, originally from Ireland and the first immigrant through Ellis Island in 1892, decided in 2008 to pool their money for a memorial, they asked Francis McCormack to carve it from Irish Blue limestone. The memo-rial is an elegant Celtic cross located in Calvary Cemetery in Queens, N.Y. The unmarked gravesite was discovered by geneal-ogists in 2006.
Irish limestone was also used in the Irish Hunger Memorial, built in 2002 in New York City. This memorial is dedicated to raising awareness of the Great Irish Famine, which killed up to a million people in Ireland between 1845 and 1852. It contains 35,000 square feet of paving and 45,000 linear feet of wall veneer made from Irish Fossil.
It's natural that these historical monuments would use Irish limestone, given its long his-tory. Ireland is still scattered with the burial tombs and mounds built from local limestone during the Neolithic and Bronze ages, and during the Iron Age, people discovered how ideal it was for carving and artwork. By the 12th Century, Irish limestone was the materi-al of choice for castles and monasteries. Stonemasonry became more established, and limestone was used in even more buildings and structures. Blue limestone was also used for the famous high Celtic crosses, built as boundary markers throughout Ireland, because of the ease with which it could be carved and its durability to withstand the elements.
Quarries where the limestone was extracted have been around for centuries as well. At least one quarry still in use today in Ireland has been providing stone to the area for a thousand years. The stone used to be harvested in blocks, and the process was highly labor-intensive. Since the introduction of diamond-based cutting equip-ment and new technology, the extraction and processing of limestone have become easier and thus the stone is more available to the United States and other countries.
Dawn Carroll is a stone fabricator in the Boston area who discovered Irish limestone several years ago. She fell in love with its unique look and character. She has done many projects using the stone and loves to tell others about its qualities. Being of Irish descent, she also finds pleasure in the idea that this ancient stone and the people who worked it might be getting the recognition they deserve.
The Irish Hunger Memorial (which takes its name from the Irish term for the famine of 1845-52, "An Gorta Mor," The Great Hunger) stands on a half-acre site at the corner of Vesey Street and North End Avenue in Battery Park City, between the Embassy Suites Hotel and the Hudson River.
The size of the cultivated area of the Memorial, one-quarter of an acre, is significant. In 1847, Sir William Gregory proposed an additional clause to the Irish Poor Law stipulating that no person occupying land of more than one-quarter acre was eligible for any relief. This law had a devastating effect and con-tributed to the suffering. The unroofed abandoned cottage reminds the visitor of the stark choice between survival and holding home and hearth.
The 96 x 170 foot Memorial, which contains stones from each of Irelands 32 counties, is elevated on a limestone plinth. Along the base are bands of texts separated by layers of imported Kilkenny limestone. The limestone is more than 300 million years old and contains fossils from the ancient Irish seabed. The text, which combines the history of the Great Famine with contemporary reports on world hunger, is cast as shadow onto illuminated frosted glass panels. From its eastern approach the Memorial appears as a slop-ing landscape with a pathway inviting visitors to walk upward past a ruined fieldstone cottage and stone walls toward a pilgrims standing stone. At the west-ern end of the Memorial, 25 feet above the pavement, a cantilevered overlook offers views of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, emblems of Americas wel-come to the Irish and to all immigrant people.
From the western or river end, the visitor approach-es the Memorial through a formal ceremonial entrance that recalls the court cairn or graves of the Irish Neolithic period that are found in the Irish north-west. The ramped passageway ends inside the ruined fieldstone cottage that was brought to New York from the townland of Carradoogan near Attymass, County Mayo.
Above, left: This ornate Celtic Cross was designed in Arizona and made by hand in County Clare- a fitting monument to 15 year-old Annie Moore, who was the first person of any nationality to enter Ellis Island Immigration and Naturalization Center in 1892. (see www.anniemoore.com for more information)
Above, right: This architect-designed fire-place of honed Grey Irish Limestone slabs, overlooking the Freeport, Maine harbor, brings 350,000,000 year old ocean fossils back to the seashore. Below, right: 2cm honed Blue Irish Limestone tiles. This durable, beautiful floor features pillowed edges on the large tiles, and is set in a traditional fixed width-random length pattern. It has never been sealed.
"This magnificent Irish limestone forever altered a long-held but fraudulent perception, and finally separated fact from fiction," Carroll said. "Italians were not the only masters in the stone industry."
For more information on Irish Limestone-US see www.irishlimestone.us . For more information on the Irish Hunger memorial, visit www.nyc.com/arts__attractions/irish_hunger_ memorial.1379/editorial_review.aspx
Left and below: A prayer maze of polished Irish Blue and Carrara marble, drawn by artist, sculptor and architect Michaelangelo in a sketch book, was first created by Irish Natural Stone Products, LTD in 2003 as a new altar at St. John's Cathedral in Limerick, Ireland. Maze diameter is 40 Feet.
"Quarries where the limestone was extracted have been around for centuries as well. At least one quarry still in use today in Ireland has been providing stone to the area for a thousand years."
Above, left and right: Rustic farmhouse kitchen with classic stone sink made of 3cm Grey Irish honed, and a sleeker 2cm island of the same stone in a contemporary European design. Typically, counters of the Irish limestone are left unsealed with occasional treatments of light oil to clean and condition surfaces, allowing a natural curing to occur. As an alternative, Irish Limestone-US suggests the use of Dry Treat Stain Proof to slow the aging process and reduce etching.
Right: Grey Irish Limestone tiles with a unique pebbled finish. This special flamed/brushed finish on 16 x 16 Irish Grey with a running border of 16 x 24 has an antique edge treatment for a worn look. One architect said that the surface "felt like leather."
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