Material: Kilkenny Blue Limestone

Kilkenny Blue Limestone has been used for centuries as the material of choice for the construction of prestige buildings. It can be worked to provide colours that range from deep blue black to subtle blue grey and surface textures ranging from silky smooth to positively aggressive. In the hands of a skilled architect, designer or mason the combination of colours and textures can bring the most mundane structure to life or produce stunning variations with the interplay between light and texture.

As with all materials there are some limitations on limestone thickness for the textured finishes.In a similar way some of the mechanically produced textures cannot be applied to the edges of the blocks.Polished and honed finishes generally do not perform well out of doors.

Finish: Honed

Honed finishes can be produced using a range of grits. The coarsest grit will give a pale blue-grey colour and the finest a dark blue-grey to black. There will be subtle variations between different beds in any quarry. Most quarries have a limited number of beds that yield an even colour but where crinoids are present they will show as well defined surface mottling. Shell beds honed with a fine grit are often black with a spectacular white contrast provided by the brachiopods. The surface produced by the coarser grits is smooth and matt with a faint pattern of circular scores. Finer grits produce a smooth matt texture with no obvious tool marks.