Miroslav Havel: The Czech Glassmaker Who Helped Revive Waterford Crystal

The original glassmaking factory that was founded in Waterford in 1783 closed after seven decades of its existence due to a financial crisis. After almost a century of dormancy, the glassmaking business in Waterford would be revived with the arrival of two Czech glassmakers. In 1947, Karel Bacik, an experienced glass-industry entrepreneur, invited Miroslav Havel to help him start his glassmaking operation in Waterford – appointing him as Chief Designer. The plan was that he would stay for a few months.

Miroslav Havel was a uniquely gifted artist, skilled in all the areas of glassmaking, which included design, blowing, cutting, engraving and sculpting. Drawing on his training received in Czechoslovakia, where he had been mentored by top-class glassmakers, in schools that ranked among the best in the world, he carefully studied the surviving original Waterford Crystal and its designs. A few years later, in 1952, he created his own, now iconic crystal pattern: the Lismore. He would go on to design the chandeliers for Westminster Abbey in London and the JFK Centre for the Performing Arts in Washington DC, and much more – while also teaching new generations of Irish glassmakers.