This business of writing a blog has its side effects: not the least of which is that it has me trawling through old papers, magazines, books and files, not to mention my memory.
During one shuch dig into the past, I unearthed a pile of magazines, catalogues, newspapers and cuttings all of which had references within them to things I had done or made in the worlds of design, furniture-collecting, -dealing or -making or related matters.

Amongst them was a recurring reference to a particular table, or rather design of table, that I first made very early-on in my 'designing and making' life and have continued to make ever since.

I am happy to say that I still own the first one of them that was made.
It is in fact currently our kitchen table which was.....

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........exhibited at nua in 1987.

nua was an exhibitionof New Irish Furniture at the Solomon Gallery in the Powerscourt Townhouse Centre in Dublin.

It found its way into the Aer Lingus in flight magazine, Cara, in 1989...

......and very large example (1830mm. diameter) was exhibited at Passagentaga Cologne - Irish Crafts International - in 1993. - In fact it was the largest one I ever made.
I'm not sure if it remains the case today, but at the time it was exceptional to be able to find a limestone slab of that size, without flaws and of a quality that would make a table-top.

I also exhibited a table of this design at Showcase on one of the years that Mary Robinson was president. I had made it for a good customer who had kindly allowed me to display it on my stand before delivery.
During their tour of the exhibition, the president and her husband evidently spotted the table, as I was called over the PA system to meet them in the organiser's office where they expressed their interest. I had to explain that it was pre-sold but that, of course, I could make them one - but that never happened.

Here is President Mary Robinson with her husband Nick on my stand at Showcase in 1991, the year I won the IDA Perpetual Craft Trophy.

Thinking back I guess I may have made something in the region of twenty tables of this design in various sizes.

I have been offered space, which I have accepted, to mount an exhibition of my furniture at Grennan Craft Mill during Kilkenny Arts Week in August of next year, 2011, when my kitchen table, the one that was exhibited at Nua back in 1987, will be back on display!