Print a Letterpress Broadside with Mary Plunkett

This one day workshop will introduce the participants to the craft of letterpress printing with particular reference to the publication ‘A Broadside’ produced by Cuala Press from 1908 to 1915 (no.2 to no.7). This poster-sized print incorporated poetry or lyrics with imagery, printed from hand set type and an etched or engraved block. Guided by the designer and letterpress printer Mary Plunkett and making use of the National Print Museum’s working collection of metal type, image blocks and printing presses, each person will set a stanza of a poem by WB Yeats and then print together onto a poster-sized sheet to create their own broadside. This will demonstrate the process and craft of letterpress from composition to printing and finishing. Each participant will take home a copy of the print. 

Subsidised by the Design and Crafts Council of Ireland, as part of August Craft Month.