Heart to Hearth

*Our apologies for the delay in releasing the rest of Series 2, we had unforeseen issues with getting the episodes produced and released - but we hope you enjoy this and the remainder of series 2 which will be released shortly*   In this episode, we chat with Sara Leach. Sara is a thatcher, currently doing an apprenticeship in County Wexford.     In today's chat,  we cover everything from how Sara...

In our fist episode of season 2, we chat with Ken Curran. Ken is a conservation mason, drystone waller and archaeologist, who operates his company EarthStone, and is also the chair of the Dry Stone Walling Association of Ireland.   In today's chat,  we cover everything from how Ken’s initial interest in Irish Vernacular heritage developed, the art and biodiversity of dry stone walling, the importa...

In our tenth and final episode of the series, we chat with Lisa Edden of Cora Consulting Engineers. Lisa has over 30 years post graduate experience in designing solutions for the stabilisation and restoration of buildings grand and vernacular, particularly historic masonry and timber structures. She has a thorough understanding of building and repair processes and the materials involved. In today'...

In our ninth episode of the series, we chat with Louise Price. Louise is an artist, and passionate dry stone waller. In today's chat, Louise takes us through her fascinating journey from artist in Donegal to the renovation of her studio barn, which ultimately led to her keen interest in dry stone walling. We hear Louise's passion for the traditional craft, her love of vernacular buildings, the sto...

**Apologies for the sound quality in this episode **   In our eight episode, we chat with Duncan McLaren of Dedalus Architecture.   Dedalus is an RIAI accredited Grade 1 conservation practice providing architectural, conservation and heritage research services to government agencies, local authorities, corporate bodies, private developers and community groups.  The business is based in Moville, In...

Episode Summary In our seventh episode, we chat with Tom Pollard.   Tom is a stonemason, an expert in earth mortars, and resides on the family farm in Co. Tipperary.   In today's chat, we discuss Tom's journey in conservation and traditional trades, his passion for casework and saving our exisitng built heritage, and the new initiative which he is involved with - Traditional Trades Ireland. We als...

In our sixth episode, we chat with Melanie McQuade and Bronagh Lanigan.   Melanie McQuade is the Heritage Officer in Westmeath. She has worked in the heritage sector for over twenty years. Melanie  was appointed Westmeath’s Heritage Officer in 2017. Before that she was an archaeologist and her most exciting work involved the discovery of 6,000 year old wooden fishing traps from a part of the capit...

In our fifth episode, we chat with Eoin Madigan and Dom Keogh.   Eoin Madigan is a sixth-generation stonemason and lime practitioner from the Burren region of Co. Clare, Ireland. He is passionate about the conservative repair of vernacular structures and specialises in the use of historic lime mortars. In 2005 he won a placement with The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB). He i...

In our fourth episode, we chat with John Beattie. John resides in Dublin, and is an Assistant Architectural Conservation Officer at Dublin City Council.   In today's chat, we cover everything from how John's career path led to his interest in built heritage, his diverse work experience -  as an NIAH recorder, a thatch apprenticeship, a committee member of the BLFI (Building Limes Forum Ireland) an...

In our third episode, we chat with Dr. Claudia Kinmonth. Claudia has published numerous books including Irish Country Furniture 1700-2000 (winner of the Michael J. Durkan Prize for Books on Language and Culture by American Conference for Irish Studies), and Irish Rural Interiors in Art. She has worked at London’s Victoria & Albert Museum, and the Sir John Soane’s Museum. She is also Conservation C...

In our second episode, we chat with Dr. Barry O’Reilly. Dr Barry O’Reilly’s background is in archaeology, folk tradition and architectural heritage. His main area of research is vernacular (traditional) architecture, in which he has an MA from University College Dublin and a PhD from Oxford Brookes University. Most recently he has studied traditional settlements (mainly farming hamlets) in Ireland...

This is it! Episode 01 of the first ever SPAB Ireland podcast. On our first episode you can hear our podcast hosts Tríona Byrne (Chairperson of SPAB Ireland) and Róisín Beine (Committee member at SPAB Ireland) discuss how they became involved in SPAB Ireland,  the importance of vernacular architecture, what exactly does vernacular mean, and an introduction to another of our SPAB Ireland committee...

We are excited to launch SPAB Ireland's first ever Podcast series, 'Heart to Hearth: Chats about Irish vernacular buildings', a project supported by the Heritage Council under the Heritage Sector Support Fund 2021. Episode 01 of the ten-part podcast series will be available on Monday 16th August with a new episode released weekly until mid-October, available wherever you get your Podcasts! Hosted...