Take a road trip to any part of Ireland and you will see the work of traditional craftspeople on heritage buildings in cities, towns, villages and all across the countryside. Stop and appreciate the decorative wrought iron work on gates and railings around 18th and 19th century houses and farmsteads. Consider the intricate thatch roofs on cottages in Adare, Limerick, Skerries in north Dublin and Kilmore Quay in Co Waterford. And take some time to ponder the effort that went into sourcing and cutting the stone for castles, Georgian-era town and country homes, and commemorative monuments the length and breadth of the country.
Also think about how all these buildings, monuments, gates and railings need to be maintained, and the conservation and restoration skills of stone masons, blacksmiths, thatchers and other traditional craftworkers required to do so.
In the past, many of these skills were passed down through the generations, often from father to son. This inter-generational sharing of expertise is now much rarer, even though demand for traditional skills is increasing, according to the Heritage Council.
The All-Ireland Heritage Skills programme run by the Heritage Council offers support to craftspeople already working in the construction sector to upskill in traditional skills, but a new National Centre of Excellence for Traditional Skills aims to offer training to groups of apprentices before there is no one left to teach them.
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“The current approach to training is uneven,” says Virginia Teehan, chief executive of the Heritage Council. “There are currently pockets of expertise and different needs across the country.” While there are apprenticeship schemes for blacksmithing in Limerick and stone masonry in Tralee, there aren’t any formal training courses in traditional skills such as stained glass conservation, traditional brickwork and plastering.
A collection of affiliated regional centres such as Education and Training Boards (ETBs) hosting various skills training is one proposal. Another suggestion is an independently run government-funded central headquarters to co-ordinate all courses. Either way, Teehan believes accredited courses should be offered by third-level institutions to teach traditional skills alongside architecture, archaeology, engineering and sustainability studies.
Thatching
Thatching is an example of a traditional skill where a new effort to increase numbers of practitioners is under way. Deemed to be a critically endangered skill due to an estimated mere 15-20 trained thatchers in Ireland, a course in thatching set up by the Heritage Council with the Kilkenny Carlow Educational Training Board started in January 2025.
On my visit to the training centre in Newmarket, Co Kilkenny, trainer, Brian Simpson and some of the 14 people on the full-time course speak about this new opportunity as they place and fix bundles of straw on to thatched roofs on their practice “tighins”.
“There definitely aren’t enough thatchers in Ireland as there is a one-year waiting list on most jobs,” explains Simpson, a former thatcher who has run courses in thatching over the years.
I’m interested in traditional buildings, natural materials and vernacular architecture
— Alice Bowler
Most of the thatching jobs are to replace thatch on roofs where the straw or reed has reached the end of its lifespan. Simpson has a bank of knowledge on the heritage aspects of thatching in Ireland. “There were different regional styles and different words for tools in different parts of the country. Most of the old knowledge and skills were passed on within families – almost secretively ’ó cluain go cluain’ (from ear to ear),” he explains.
The skills of thatching with both straw and reed are taught on the course. Historically, reed was used on cottages close to estuaries of large rivers such as the Shannon and Blackwater where water reed grew wild, but now much of the reed is imported from Turkey and eastern Europe where certification schemes guarantee its quality.
As part of their course, the students will rethatch a replica of a 19th century labourer’s cottage built 25 years ago next to Gáirdín an Ghorta, a public garden in Newmarket commemorating the Great Famine from 1841-1851.
Mick O’Donnell from Clonmel in Co Tipperary is one of the trainees. “I run a chimney sweeping business but I’d hope to get work thatching for eight or nine months of the year,” he says. He also plans to rethatch his grandmother’s house near Cappoquin in Co Waterford.
Architect Alice Bowler from Enniscorthy in Co Wexford joined the course to get hands-on training. “I’m interested in traditional buildings, natural materials and vernacular architecture. It’s important to sustain these crafts that have been in Ireland for thousands of years,” she says, pointing to how thatch is still widely used in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Denmark. Fire barrier insulation materials are now used as an underlay for the thatch.
Ryan McAllister from Skerries in Co Dublin is training to become a thatcher, having packed in work as a fisherman due to the hazardous weather conditions. “It’s about using your hands and working outdoors. I hope to have a full-time job at the end of this course,” he says.
The course will include a six-week work placement with an experienced thatcher. Afterwards, most trainees will need to work for about three years with a thatcher before setting up on their own.
Stone masonry
Tom Pollard is passionate about his work as a stone mason and keen to pass on his skills to the next generation.
“There are very few stone masons in Ireland yet these are simple skills which aren’t hard to master – and once you have them, they will never let you down,” he says.
Dublin born and bred, the former craft worker (he previously made slate wall hangings) changed direction following the completion of a stone masonry course with Patrick McAfee, the master stone mason and author of Irish Stone Walls: History, Building and Conservation, in 2002. Soon afterwards, Pollard moved with his wife, Heather Loughlin, to live in Tipperary where they built a timber-framed house clad in Tipperary sandstone. He has been plying his trade since while also gaining further expertise in conservation techniques on various courses in Ireland and the UK.
“I spent the first few years building walls and cladding houses after we moved here. But for me, heritage came calling because I love a mess,” he says with a laugh.
While he believes the vacant and derelict building grants are a great opportunity to save some of our vernacular buildings in rural Ireland, he also believes that some owners of old buildings are getting bad advice when restoring their properties. “We need to upskill many of the current stone masons in the philosophy of conservation and restoration,” he says.
He is working on Knockelly Castle in Fethard, Co Tipperary, where the owners began a big conservation and restoration project in 2022. The job in hand is restoring the 19th century Georgian house which is built into the bawn wall of the castle.
Pollard has a particular fascination for the reuse of old earth mortars (a mix of clay, sand and silt made from natural subsoil), which he analyses for clients and uses with salvaged stone in his conservation and restoration work.
He runs workshops on lime mortar for experienced tradespeople and craftsworkers keen to learn this conservation approach to pointing walls. He also promotes the use of stone from quarries in new buildings as a more sustainable alternative to concrete.
On his nine-hectare farm, Pollard has created demonstration dry stone walls as two sides of traditional cottage. Nearby, an off-grid solar-panelled workshop space, The Greenhouse, is used for training.
Each year, Pollard teaches students from the King’s Foundation, an educational charity that promotes sustainable skills. He also hopes to run workshops with stonecutter Julia Gebel this summer. Gebel is also very keen to train tradespeople for professional careers in building conservation to work alongside architects and engineers.
“We want to teach people what a lever, hammer and chisel can do. How to lift stone, make an arch, construct a wall and cut letters,” says Pollard, who has also participated in the Féile na gCloch/Festival of Stone on Inis Oírr, the smallest of the three Aran Islands.
Blacksmithing
Walking into the workshop and forge of Paul Devlin outside Castlecomer, Co Kilkenny, is like stepping back in time. The large benches are full of historic gates under restoration. An array of handmade iron tools hang from the walls and the hot furnace gives out tremendous heat. Outside, the yard is strewn with gates and railings, many of which will be used in future jobs.
A lot of the skills and techniques have been lost and the building industry isn’t aware of what can be done, but there is work here for people who are willing to do this kind of restoration and conservation work
— Paul Devlin
Devlin learned his early blacksmithing skills from his father, a local blacksmith and farrier, who initially discouraged his son from following in his footsteps. However, after training as a mechanical and production engineering technician, Devlin gradually found himself drawn back into blacksmithing – first working in forges in England and later back in Ireland.
“I always returned to work with my father in the forge. And here I am, years later, back doing what he did with two big black hands,” he says with a smile.
As a founder member of the Irish Artist Blacksmiths Association and author of the Guide to Best Practices for the Restoration of Irish Historic Ironwork, Devlin is passionate about using traditional materials and forging techniques for repairing gates, railings, balconies and other historic decorative wrought iron features.
Devlin says there are only a handful of blacksmiths working on this kind of heavy labour-intensive restoration work in Ireland. Having trained blacksmiths on various courses over the year, he is keen for more people to learn the skills.
“There should be more courses. A lot of the skills and techniques have been lost and the building industry isn’t aware of what can be done, but there is work here for people who are willing to do this kind of restoration and conservation work,” he says.
Devlin set up Pristine Ironwork with his partner, Christine. Recent commissions include restoring the railings around Mountjoy Square for Dublin City Council and working extensively on ironworks in Humewood Castle, Kiltegan, Co Wicklow.
A purist at heart, he abides by the first principle of conservation work: everything that is done can be undone.
