Jerpoint Glass Studio: Visiting the Stoneyford Glassblowers

A Working Studio, Not a City Attraction

Jerpoint Glass occupies a rural site at Stoneyford, County Kilkenny, where glass is blown, finished, displayed and sold. The business describes itself as a family-run studio that began in a converted Dutch barn at the Leadbetters' home, and it still presents the craft as a family affair at its heart. That working identity matters for visitors: you are going to a production workshop with a viewing area, not a purpose-built visitor centre.

The studio sits roughly fourteen kilometres from Kilkenny City, off the Waterford road and opposite the Mount Juliet hotel and golf complex, according to the studio's own directions. Signposts lead from the main route, and the Eircode R95WN67 is the reliable thing to put into a routing app. Do not head for Jerpoint Abbey expecting glass; the two share a name root but are distinct places, and the abbey is not where the furnace is.

For travellers building a broader craft itinerary around the county, this is one of several workshops where a specific making tradition can be watched rather than only read about. A useful starting point for that wider picture is the guide to irish traditional crafts, which places individual studios within Ireland's living craft landscape.

Origins: The Leadbetters and a Dutch Barn

Keith and Kathleen Leadbetter established Jerpoint Glass in December 1979, starting from a converted Dutch barn at their County Kilkenny home. Keith had previously worked in pottery and in laboratory glassblowing in the UK, and in the late 1960s he trained as a glassblower at the Orrefors Glass School in Sweden before returning to Ireland. Kathleen, a self-taught artist, developed the coloured glass palette the studio is now known for.

A business case study published by Local Enterprise Office Kilkenny confirms the 1979 founding and the family ownership, and records that the Stoneyford facility combines a glassblowing workshop, a gallery and a retail shop. The same document notes that the company built a market in Ireland, the UK and the USA and supplied craft retailers wholesale. Read it as business history rather than a statement of current arrangements, since ownership of grants, equipment or distribution can change.

Today the studio identifies Rory Leadbetter, son of Keith and Kathleen, as a master glassblower. The succession detail is useful context for visitors: the person shaping a wine glass at the furnace may belong to the family that started the business, though the studio also trains its own glassblowers over a long apprenticeship. The studio's own history does not establish that every family member currently works there, so avoid assuming a full family reunion on the workshop floor.

The Craft as the Studio Describes It

The studio explains the process as a sequence of gathers, shaping and finishing. Molten glass is collected from the furnace on the end of a blowing iron, then shaped by heating, cooling, gravity and the glassblower's breath, with the air expanding each piece from the inside. The studio calls the maker's breath the essential tool in the whole process, and the movements at the bench are deliberately small rather than theatrical.

Colour is introduced by dipping the hot gather into trays of granulated colour, which the studio mixes by hand. The studio's FAQ attributes specific tones to mineral colourants, with iron used in greens and aqua, copper in light blues and manganese in amethyst, and notes that some reds and pinks include a little gold. Each batch of colour varies slightly, which is one reason two pieces of the same design never look identical.

The final stage is hand finishing, which sets Jerpoint apart from machine-cut glass in the studio's account. Because every piece is finished by hand rather than cut to shape, rims carry a softer curve and sizes vary according to the glassblower's judgment. The studio also confirms that its glass is a non-lead crystal, substituting a special ingredient for lead while retaining a sparkling appearance, a material claim best treated as the maker's own description rather than an independent test result.

If you are comparing making traditions across Irish workshops, this kind of hand-finishing narrative connects usefully to irish pottery, where clay bodies and glazes raise analogous questions about handwork, variation and the maker's mark.

Reading a Jerpoint Piece

Look underneath a glass and you may find a small rough patch: the pontil mark. In the studio's explanation, the cup of a glass is closed and attached to a second, pontil iron at the base so the rim can be reheated and opened out; the pontil leaves its trace where it gripped the glass. The studio treats that mark as the hallmark of hand manufacture, so it is a feature to look for rather than damage.

Variation in size, shade and small trapped bubbles follows from the same handmade process. The studio states that it does not use moulds to mass-produce glass and does not cut pieces to shape, so the glassblower judges the final form by eye, and colour and bubbles remain slightly different from piece to piece. Visitors who expect the uniformity of factory glass should adjust their expectations before they browse the shelves.

The shop adjacent to the studio carries the full collection plus carefully chosen work by other artists, and the studio grades its glassware into firsts and seconds. Seconds may be slightly off centre or carry a heavy tool mark, and the studio states that its seconds are reduced by about 25 per cent. For care, the studio advises hand washing in lukewarm water, avoiding dishwashers, and keeping candles well away from the rim of candleholders to reduce thermal shock.

Watching the Glassblowers

Visitors can watch the glassblowing free of charge during working hours from a viewing area, and the studio actively encourages people to stop and look. This is observation, not a hands-on class: there is no bookable public blowing session, and the studio publishes no fixed tour length. Expect to stand and watch the bench at work, then move through to the shop when the rhythm of the furnace changes.

The Made in Kilkenny regional craft network frames the studio as a glassblowing demonstration experience and confirms that viewing is free during working hours. It also lists coach tours, school tours and private experiences, all arranged by contacting the studio in advance. That distinction is worth holding on to: arriving unannounced as a group is not the same as booking a group experience.

The studio's own page includes a view over the Leinster Hills from the studio, which gives the stop a wider landscape to enjoy alongside the furnace. Because the space is a working bench rather than a theatre, sightlines and activity vary with what is being made that day. A glassblower working on a wine glass, with multiple gathers, shows a very different rhythm from someone shaping a paperweight.

Hours and Season: Two Schedules, One Site

Jerpoint publishes separate hours for the workshop and the shop, and mixing them up is the main way to miss the blowing. The workshop, where you watch glass being made, runs Monday to Thursday from 10:00 to 16:00 and Friday from 10:00 to 13:00, and it is closed on bank holidays. The shop keeps Monday to Saturday from 10:00 to 17:00; it opens on Sundays from noon to 17:00 in May to October and in December, and on bank-holiday Mondays from noon to 17:00 in May to October.

From January to April and in November the shop stays closed on Sundays and bank holidays, so those days offer neither shop nor demonstration. The practical consequence is that a late-weekend visit in those months should be planned for Saturday. On a bank holiday Monday in the May-to-October season, the shop may be open while the furnace is not, so phone or email before travelling if the workshop is your reason for coming.

Check the studio's website or ring ahead for the current schedule, particularly around public holidays, since these are the operator's published times rather than a guarantee of activity on any given day. Allow roughly an hour for watching and browsing without feeling rushed. The exact duration is best set by how long a particular piece holds your attention.

Getting There from Kilkenny City

The studio is signposted from the Waterford road, roughly fourteen kilometres from Kilkenny City, and sits opposite the Mount Juliet hotel and golf complex. Use the Eircode R95WN67 in a satnav or map app, and treat the signs as confirmation rather than the primary route. A car is the straightforward way to include the detour, since the studio is on a rural road rather than a walkable city-centre street.

If you are touring County Kilkenny's craft workshops, the studio pairs naturally with other making sites in the county, such as cushendale woollen mills, where another family business has kept a hand process alive. Both are working sites rather than museums, so the same rule applies: check that production is running, not just that the door is open.

Groups and Private Visits

Coach tours, school groups and private experiences are all possible at Jerpoint Glass, but they are arranged in advance by contacting the studio rather than turning up as a large party. The studio provides email and phone contacts for enquiries, and group organisers should settle timing, numbers and whether a demonstration is likely before confirming transport. Made in Kilkenny lists the demonstration experience explicitly, which makes it a sensible first point of reference for a group leader planning a craft stop.

For a private visit, the useful question is not simply whether the studio is open but whether glass will be blown during your slot. A group arriving during shop-only hours may see the gallery and the seconds but not the furnace. Build the itinerary around the workshop schedule first, then fit the shopping and gallery time after it.

A Family Business in Historical Context

The Local Enterprise Office case study records that the Leadbetters invested in a smaller, more fuel-efficient micromelt furnace with assistance from the agency, and that they used online retail to grow direct sales. That detail sheds light on how a rural craft studio has adapted to changing costs and markets over the years. It does not establish what furnace is in use today or whether similar support is currently available, so treat it as a snapshot of a period in the company's development.

More broadly, Jerpoint Glass belongs to a wider tradition of Irish craft workshops documented by public collections as well as by the operators themselves. A site guide to Irish folk art is a useful counterpart to seeing a craft practised live, and a broader overview of irish traditional crafts places studios like this one within Ireland's living craft landscape. For families building a craft-focused trip, pairing a studio visit with that context gives depth the workshop itself does not attempt to supply.

Who Gets the Most from the Detour

A glassblowing stop rewards people who enjoy watching skilled handwork at close range and who are happy to linger without a scripted tour. It is less rewarding for anyone expecting a visitor centre with exhibits, a café and a fixed programme, since the studio is primarily a working business. Families with children often find the furnace itself the attraction, provided everyone understands they are watching, not participating.

On timing, the studio fits best as a standalone craft stop or as part of a drive south from Kilkenny City, since the Waterford road route serves the site directly. It adds most value if you are already heading that way. If your only free time falls on a bank holiday or a Sunday outside May to October, save the visit for a day when the workshop is scheduled and the shop is open together.

For more on how individual Irish workshops fit into a wider picture of materials, skills and regional tradition, this site's coverage of craft and folk art offers a useful longer read.

Plan Your Visit

Jerpoint Glass Studio rewards a little planning more than most craft stops, because the difference between watching glass being made and simply browsing the shop comes down to the workshop timetable. Aim for a weekday morning when the workshop is scheduled to be blowing, and confirm the current hours with the studio before setting out. Use the Eircode R95WN67 for the drive, and leave room to watch a full piece take shape rather than treating the stop as a quick purchase.

If you have time, combine the glass studio with an independent craft collection to give the workshop context, and keep the Jerpoint Abbey confusion out of the plan by routing directly to Stoneyford. The visit works best as a considered detour from Kilkenny City, not as a substitute for the city's own sights; for the historic sites you might pair with this detour, see our guide to castles in Kilkenny. For a broader introduction to the country’s visual culture, continue with our guide to Irish artists.