​This lecture will be presented by Dr. Paul Rondelez from the Mining Heritage Trust of Ireland.

Abstract: Iron has been one of the most important materials available in Ireland for over a thousand years. Until the 16^th century, iron was made in small clay bloomery furnaces, but in the 17^th and 18^th centuries the industry was based on the much larger water-powered charcoal-fuelled 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.

Coffee and biscuits will be available from 5:30 pm. 

All welcome.