Exploring the Urban Geology of Dublin – The Use of Decorative and Building Stones Through Time
An illustrated lecture by Prof. Patrick Wyse Jackson and Dr. Louise Caulfield, based on their book 'The Decorative and Building Stones of Dublin - a Walking Guide', which was published in 2025 by Trinity College Dublin.
Documenting over 170 stone types used to build Ireland’s capital city of Dublin, The Decorative and Building Stones of Dublin - a Walking Guide explores both historic and less-notable buildings and monuments, revealing the design and construction techniques of the architects, quarrymen, craftspeople and building contractors who shaped the character of the city over time.
This talk explores the very fabric of the built environment of the city. Whether drawn from local limestone and granite quarries, from sandstone, slate and marble quarries across the country, or imported from abroad, Dublin is distinguished from any other by the stone that was used to build it.
Louise Caulfield is Research Fellow of the STONEBUILT Ireland project at Trinity College Dublin. She is a geologist with a special interest in the interplay between geology and architecture. She holds a BA in geology, an MSc in environmental sciences, and a PhD for her research on the exploitation and utilisation of Irish decorative stone in the nineteenth century. She is currently finalising a monograph,Marble in the Making: from Quarry to Building in Victorian Ireland, with UCL Press. Her other publications include chapters in The Museum Building of Trinity College Dublin: A Model of Victorian Craftsmanship (Four Courts Press, 2019) and Enriching Architecture: Craft and its Conservation in Anglo-Irish building production, 1660-1760 (UCL Press, 2023).
Patrick Wyse Jackson is Emeritus Professor in Geology and Fellow at Trinity College Dublin, and a Member of the Royal Irish Academy. His research interests are three-fold: fossils, the history of geology in Ireland, and the links between geology and the built environment. Currently he engaged in studies on the sources and utilisation of building and decorative stone in Ireland as part of the STONEBUILT Ireland project. His books include The Chronologers’ Quest: Episodes in the Search for the Age of the Earth (Cambridge University Press, 2006), and The Making of Irish Geology 1740–1940 (Routledge, 2025) and he is joint editor of The Museum Building of Trinity College Dublin: Setting the Standard in Design, Materials and Craftsmanship (Four Courts Press, 2019).
Copies of the book The Decorative and Building Stones of Dublin – a Walking Guide will be available on the day for €20. The STONEBUILT Ireland project, of which this book is an output, is co-funded by the OPW, Geological Survey Ireland, and Trinity College Dublin.
This illustrated lecture is presented by the OPW as part of the 2026 Cultural Programme at Rathfarnham Castle. Doors open at 3pm and the presentation runs from 3.30pm to 4.30pm
Getting Here
Rathfarnham, Dublin 14, D14 K3T6
Click the relevant icon below to open Maps directions
