In the late 1980s, as Dublin’s Temple Bar began its transformation from scruffy backwater into a celebrated cultural quarter, artist Rachel Joynt was paving a quieter but no less powerful path: carving stories into the city’s sidewalks. These sculpted kerbstones are now among Temple Bar’s best-kept secrets.
A Creative Genesis in 1989
Joynt graduated from the National College of Art & Design in 1989, just as Dublin was gearing up for its Millennium Year. It was then she began working “in the ground,” sandblasting motifs directly into granite kerbstones across the neighborhood .
Reflecting on how it all began, she explained:
“I was a student, looking for ways to earn money… And then, as an idea I went around the different shops… and said, ‘Would you like me to do something?’”
What followed was organic: “I think I did one, and then somebody else would see it and ask for the same thing… It kind of grew to be something that I just did for the summer.”
Tools in a Tiny Workshop
Joynt didn’t work in a studio. She set up makeshift shelters—“a little teepee”—on location to contain the sandblast dust as she etched each design directly onto the kerbstones .
“It was always busy… people would just be walking around me, stepping over me. That’s the way I worked.”
Symbols of Stories: Fish, Hounds, Hooves, and More
These carvings were commissioned by individual Temple Bar businesses. The imagery was thoughtfully chosen: fish in front of fishing shops, an Irish wolfhound outside a coddle restaurant, scissors and combs near a former barber, even an elephant outside Rudyard’s restaurant—each reflecting local identity and heritage .
Some carvings were simple two-dimensional sandblasts; others were enhanced with small bronze inlays—most notably the trio of donkey hoofprints outside the Bad Ass Café .
Public Art as Everyday Encounter
Rachel Joynt’s broader philosophy embraces public art that invites quiet discovery, not gallery applause. In her words:
“For me, a successful public artwork needs to have a sense of place, a freshness, some intrigue & playfulness, a bit like a frozen moment from a daydream.”
Preservation and Rediscovery
Dublin City Council estimates Joynt created around fifteen kerbstone artworks; four have since disappeared during repaving or redevelopment—a footprint outside a former shoe shop among them .
However, some like the donkey hoofprints are being conserved and will be reinstated as part of ongoing public works .
Why the Kerbstone Carvings Still Matter
These miniature sculptures ask us to stick around and look down. They challenge ideas about scale and permanence, offering visual storytelling beneath our daily steps.
Rachel Joynt’s public art has always turned the overlooked into the unforgettable:
“Working in both gallery and public art, permanence and the transient are reoccurring themes…”
In Summary: A Walk, a Story Beneath Your Feet
When you walk Temple Bar today, take a moment to catch the ground beneath your footsteps. That wolfhound on Fleet Street, the fishing rod by Rory’s former tackle shop, the vases and combs near Merchant’s Arch—they are small yet potent connections to Dublin’s past. Every carving speaks of place, participation, and the delight of discovery.
Rachel Joynt’s kerbstone carvings persist as poetic invitations to slow down, to unearth hidden histories, and to notice that art can be anything but monumental—it can be as intimate as a sidewalk whisper.
Have you spotted one of Joynt’s carvings? Share your photo or story — each image helps preserve a fading piece of Dublin’s living heritage.
Interested in more of Joynt’s work? Explore People’s Island, Perpetual Motion, or ArcHive, where she similarly merges craft, place and mythology.
