I’m outside Stoneyford, Co Kilkenny, at a small workshop covered in flowering clematis. I can hear birdsong, but there’s also a mechanical sound, a gentle rhythmic humming.
Inside, Eoghan Leadbetter is at his lathe, shaping and moulding a piece of beech into a bowl. Wood shavings and sawdust fly everywhere. Eoghan leans over the machine, holding the chisel steady as the piece of wood spins round and round. His head is down. He is deep in concentration.
He has crafted in woodturning since 2015. A friend knew he was interested in woodwork so gave him his lathe. “I remember telling him I wouldn’t be into it but from the first moment the chisel hit the wood, I was hooked,” he tells me.
Eoghan creates sustainable wooden products with everyday use in mind, including bowls, rolling pins, chopping boards and coffee scoops. He works with hardwoods, mainly locally sourced ash and beech. The wood comes from trees that have fallen in the wind or been damaged and removed by tree surgeons. His love for his raw material is obvious: “It’s a tactile, renewable material. It’s warm to the touch.”
There’s a sense of calm in the workshop. I ask Eoghan what he’s thinking about when he’s working. “Woodturning can be very therapeutic,” he says.
“You just go into another place when you’re working, you’re relaxed, you’re not really thinking about anything.”
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