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Lecture: 6th February 2019 – “The Blast Furnace in 17th and 18th Century Ireland” by Paul Rondelez (Director of the Irish Mining Heritage Trust)
6 February, 2019 @ 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM GMT
Abstract: Iron has been one of the most important materials available in Ireland for over a thousand years. Until the 16th century, iron was made in small clay bloomery furnaces, but in the 17th and 18th centuries the industry was based on the much larger water-powered charcoal-fueled blast furnace. This talk will give an overview of the history of this Irish blast furnace. The mines and iron ores used will be discussed as well as other associated industries. It will touch upon the far-reaching effects this industry had on Ireland: widespread deforestation, the founding of many settlements, but also the supply of the metal that brought Ireland from the Middle Ages into modern times. The talk will be illustrated with examples of still-standing remains, which are among the best preserved in the world.
Paul Rondelez obtained his PhD degree at UCC in 2014 on late-medieval iron production in Ireland and is one of the founding members of the Sliabh Aughty Furnace Project that studies the blast furnace industry in east County Clare and southeast County Galway. He is a Director of the Mining Heritage Trust of Ireland and Chair of the Historical Metallurgy Society.
When and where: The lecture theatre in the Geological Survey of Ireland, Beggars Bush, Dublin 4, on Wednesday, 6th February 2019, between 6:30 pm and 7:30 pm. Coffee and biscuits will be available from 5:30 pm. All welcome!
Picture Credit: https://www.furnaceproject.org