Barnacullia, Co. Dublin has had a long tradition of quarrying, masonry and stone cutting as the local granite has been used to build Dublin’s finest buildings and churches.

Granite has been the life blood of Barnacullia, Co Dublin for the past 200 years. This unique village is situated half way up Three Rock Mountain, outside of Dublin city. Granite as a building stone became fashionable in the 18th century, and as the granite quarries were opened along the side of the mountain, families moved into the area from many parts of the country. Families whose names are now synonymous with stone cutting – Kane, McCluskey, O’Neill, Murphy, Roe, Cannon, Ryan, Walsh, Donnelly, McCabe, Doyle.

With the expansion the work of the stone cutters prospered, and by the end of the 19th century, the community around Barnacullia was well established. At that time, there were scores of small quarries in operation, and the workers in stone were classified into three broad categories – quarry men, cutters, and masons.

Contributors: Anne Kane, Paddy Roe, Tom O'Neill, Chris O'Neill, Phil O'Neill, Jim Murphy, Peter Walsh.

Presented and Produced by Kieran Sheedy

First Broadcast February 1976

An Irish radio documentary from RTÉ Radio 1, Ireland - Documentary on One - the home of Irish radio documentaries