Sheehan, David (d. 1756), mason-sculptor, was most probably a son of Tieg Sheehan, stonemason and proprietor of Tieg Sheehan & Sons in Dublin. Initially trained by his father, David was later associated with William Kidwell (qv) and may also have received instruction from him. He worked with John Houghton and became familiar with the latest styles and motifs that were being introduced in architectural and monumental design. From 1729 to 1739 he was employed by Sir Edward Lovett Pearce (qv) in the construction of the parliament house in College Green, collaborating with Houghton in the sculptural details. In 1743 he was employed to carry out renovation work at Dublin castle, and in 1746 was paid over £340 for constructing a new portico entrance on the castle's south side.
Basing himself at premises in Marlborough St., he was later best remembered as a sculptor of funeral monuments and was greatly influenced by the theories of the Scottish architect James Gibbs (1682–1754), who had published his Book of architecture in 1728. The three signed memorials of Sheehan's that survive display distinctly Gibbsian features. In the Church of Ireland church at Tullow in Co. Carlow, he completed a monument to Gen. Clement Nevil (1745), which was copied directly from a design by Robert Kidwell, the brother of his old mentor, William Kidwell. The Nevil monument was made in white marble, and included dual flanking columns and surmounting trophies. In 1753 he collaborated with John Houghton and built a monument to Lord Barrymore (qv) in Castlelyons, Co. Cork. This monument included Corinthian columns and a bust of Lord Barrymore. The church at Castlelyons has since been closed for worship and some damage to the monument has occurred. During 1753 he also worked with Houghton on a memorial to Elizabeth, daughter of Dr Joseph Rogers, which was placed in Christ Church, Cork. While only these three monuments bear Sheehan's signature, further unsigned monuments around Ireland display remarkable similarities in execution and design and may well have been his work.
In the 1750s he worked on the west front of TCD, and also on Castle Coole, Co. Fermanagh. The modern house at Castle Coole was built 1789–98, however, and the earlier house that included Sheehan's work was demolished to make way for it. He died in Dublin in 1756 and was buried in Drumcondra cemetery. Interestingly his will, which was dated 1749 and proved on 13 February 1756, mentioned his stocks of stones ‘in Dublin, Cork, Kilkenny, and elsewhere’ (Strickland). This suggests that he was engaged in carving monuments throughout the country. While his work has since been dismissed as being ‘dull and uninspired’ (Potterton, 102), the highly elaborate style he used reflected the tastes of the day.
He was married to a daughter of a stone-cutter, Cornelius Heffernan, and his eldest son, Cornelius Sheehan (d. 1761?), also worked as a mason-sculptor and completed (1759) a highly decorative monument to Gustavus Handcock in Athlone, Co. Westmeath. Another member of the family, Mordecai Sheehan, worked as a stone-cutter in premises at Marlborough Street. Declared bankrupt in 1774, he continued to work until c.1789 and specialised in the erection of chimney-pieces.