Famous Abbey Theatre stones meant for landfill to be retrieved as ...
Minister O'Donovan and OPW Team with Mrs Hanly.
The Famous Abbey Theatre stones are to be retrieved as “remarkable pieces of Dublin history.”
The Office of Public Works (OPW) has started the complex and careful process of transporting the Abbey Stones, which have been lying in a garden in Killiney, County Dublin for more than 60 years.
The stones, which formed the external façade of the original Abbey Theatre, were destined for landfill after a fire destroyed the building in 1951 but 10 years later the city architect of the day, Dáithí Hanly, was passing on the day of the site clearance and intervened.
He instructed the demolition team to number each stone and carefully place them in a specific way in his back garden in Killiney, so that future generations could precisely reconstruct the façade exactly like it was before.
Mr. Hanly died in 2003, and his wife Joan is now passing custody of the famous stones over to the OPW for safekeeping.
“It is a huge honour for my department to be entrusted with these stunning, remarkable pieces of our history.
“Our conservation teams are excited to start the delicate process of removing the stones from the Hanly’s back garden and transporting them to our secure depot in the Phoenix Park. Once there, they will be carefully cleaned, catalogued and stored until such time as the Abbey Theatre team wishes to reinstate them,” Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works, Patrick O’Donovan said.
Executive Director of the Abbey Theatre, Mark O’Brien added: “We are delighted that the remarkable generosity and vision of the Hanlys in saving and being the custodians of the original stones of the Abbey Theatre is being marked at this time.
“We would like to thank the team at the OPW who have shown the same spirit of generosity in taking these items of such national importance into their care.
“As we look forward to the development of a new building and infrastructure for Ireland’s national theatre, it is fitting that it will have the resources of its own history available for its future.”
Head of Heritage and Capital Works at the OPW, Rosemary Collier also said: “The care given to the preservation of the ‘Abbey stones’ by the Hanly family for over six decades is remarkable. Their role in ensuring that an important part of Ireland’s built heritage will survive for future generations is a vital story of forethought, dedication and generosity.”
