ICONIC IRISH GLASS-MAKING
The Master Cutters at Waterford have to rely on their skill to judge the precise pressure that is required to hold the crystal to the wheel, as too much will create a damaging cut that could shatter the crystal. All Master Cutters undergo a lengthy apprenticeship before being fully qualified to do this precise and highly skilled work.
Though the precise facts of Ireland’s glass-making practices are lost in the mists of time, there are significant archaeological artefacts that reveal glass was regarded with respect from as early as the Iron Age, around 500 BC, along with medieval documents also proving that glass-making took place in Ireland back in the middle 13th century.
What transpired between these dates may be a mystery, but what is clear is that the Irish have an innate affinity for glass-making that spans millennia.
Though the precise facts of Ireland’s glass-making practices are lost in the mists of time, there are significant archaeological artefacts that reveal glass was regarded with respect from as early as the Iron Age, around 500 BC, along with medieval documents also proving that glass-making took place in Ireland back in the middle 13th century.
What transpired between these dates may be a mystery, but what is clear is that the Irish have an innate affinity for glass-making that spans millennia.
