A recent restoration
project in Co Laois led to the question being raised as to where traditional
craftmanship falls against the back drop of post Celtic Tiger Ireland. With so
many young people emigrating will traditional craftsmanship become a dying
trade?
SET in the majestic Laois
countryside, the backdrop to this thathching restoration project on a once
family home built in the 1800’s has captured the attention of a community as it
is a rarity in our current economic climate to see a tradition such as
thatching in action.
The once occupied rural cottage has been in The Dunne
family since the early 18th century and is now a protected landmark
within the locality. The small cottage still has the crisp essence of traditional
Ireland. As you unlock the yellow half
door and walk into a kitchen you are instantly transported back to what life in
Ireland used to be like.
The dusty plates on the dresser and the pots hanging
over the open fire are a testiment to what life was like for a generation pre
Celtic tiger.
At the height of the Celtic Tiger, Ireland’s building
trade was at the tip of the economic boom. All tradesmen had a plentiful supply
of work as housing estates and office blocks appeared to spread further throughout
Ireland.
The harsh
reality is that most building work has long since ceased and developers have
now gone into receivership. Ghost estates lie empty and workers who once
occupied the offices are signing on in their local social welfare office.
It raises a valid question in a fledging economic
crisis is Irelands craft industry about
to see a surge in traditional means of earning a living or will such trades
become a distant memory as so many of young Irish people must now emigrate in
search of a work.
The process of thatching truly is a tradition deep
rooted in most Irish communities but sadly many people let the tradition die,
and the sight of a thatched building in the majestic rural landscapes of
Ireland is now a rarity. Attitudes towards
conservation of such building perhaps lie more with the older generation of
Ireland, more so than the “Celtic Tiger babies” who are now, readjusting to a
more simpler Ireland than the one they were conceived in.
None the less such projects are of great importance,
however like most things in Ireland, keeping a tradition alive comes with a hefty
price tag which is no real great shocker in Irish society.
The Department of Environment offers some assistance
towards the financial implications of such a project, a grant of two-thirds of
the approved cost of renovatiing thatched roofs of owner occupied houses.
A further level of financial assistance is available up
to 5,714 euro for houses on specific offshore islands. The Department of
Environment issues houses with a medical card with thatching grants of up to a
maximum of 6,350 euro.
However locals in Co Laois, they critised the emerging
new generation of thatchers which the FÁS scheme creates. The new generation
are just out to make a “quick buck” says one disenchanted farmer by trying to
charge astonishing prices in comparasion to what it used to cost.
The FÁS Thatcher Traineeship aims to provide unemployed
people with a grounding and necessary skill basis to gain practical experience
in the sector. The course is 51 weeks in total with 35 weeks off the job
training and 16 weeks on the job training. However Carmel Higgins of the Galway
FÁS Branch explained how costly the course was on them and that placement was
hard sought. She adds that the course has not been run in recent years and was
not in the “pipeline for 2013”.
Criticism however, for such emerging new “skill sets”
comes with a price tag that is just not feasable against the current economic climate. Is this why we see so little of traditional
Ireland in our cosmopolitian landscape?
Paul Johnson is one local thathcher based in Co Galway
who has his thatching business part time as there is just not enough money in
it nowdays to pay the bills. He also works as an electronic engineer. Paul was
formally trained in the UK to become a master thatcher that can take six years.
Mr Johnson spoke of the FÁS scheme to train Irish
thatchers. He is dismayed at how young thatchers are not inspired by the craft,
which is seen as a means to get them off the dole and then move on to another
course.
The system in Ireland however does appear to have
flaws. If it takes a six year process in the UK to become a master thatcher and
learn the heritiage behind the crafsman ship then how can FÁS be training
people in a 52 week period?
Local people in Laois spoke of the “cowboy” system so
perhaps learning a trade in such a quick period of time is alluding to this
generalisation with all traditional craft in the Emerald Isle.
Paul Johnson expressed concern of having to compete
with FÁS trained thatchers: “We have been competed with by FÁS trainees who
have not even a year experience under their belt, who are going out and
underpricing us”, he says
“They are providing services with vey little or no
experience, very little portfolio work and basically undermining the skills set
needed to do something that is highly experience based, a craft that takes
years to perfect
He adds:”There is no regulatory body in Ireland, so you
can go out tomorrow and set yourself up as a thatcher and use customers as
guinea pigs”.
A Work in Progress but at what cost?
The restoration project in Co Laois, takes about 250
bundles of straw. The straw has to be specially cut with an old type binder and
put into a rick and trashed. It is a process that has long been carried out in
a piece of heritiage such as the Laois cottage.
The last person to live in the house was William Dunne
who was the grandson of William SR and Elizabeh Dunne. Tragically William
died just a few hundred yards
from his home, stepped in local history following a road traffic accident in
1994.
Mr Johnston voiced concern to attitudes in Ireland
nowdays. He said:”In Ireland, in a recession people think, some people; spending
little money will save them lots of money but this is not always true”.
There appears to be the traditional Irish couple he
explained who have lived in the traditional sense of Ireland all their lives
and thatching their house is a necissity, but sadly have little to pay for
restoration.
There are those on the middle ground, who are willing
to take out perhaps a loan to carry out essential maintenance and perhaps go a
little further. Lastly there are those who see thatching as an invesment
particularly in a new build.
The question lies though should thatchers not be
willing to set prices that adhears to the tradition it represents and perhaps
that 80 year old man or woman who need the maintenance but can only afford so
much?
Celtic Tiger Ireland saw tradition go out the window. People
stepped over pennies on the street. Now we see people search the streets to
pick up those fallen coins.
The image of a traditional Ireland and perhaps taking
thatching as an example was as Mr Johnston put it “A fella pulling up with a
donkey, a bottle of poitin and a bag of spuds” This was the man that would
thatch the roof for a fair price.
In today’s cosmopolitian Ireland, an Ireland that is
batting through the latter half of a recession, when emigration is rampant
perhaps one solution to solving Ireland’s problems is a return to
traditionalism?
Traditional Ireland was not materialistic in Celtic
Tiger Ireland. The tradition was always the family and the home.
Restoration efforts such as the Co Laois project is
perhaps one step in the right direction of keeping alive a part of Ireland that
seems to be forgotten about.
After all it’s not a house that makes it a home, it’s
the family inside. As the great great grandson of William Dunne it was a proud
moment to see three generations stand around and watch a house become alive
again even if it was just a new straw roof.
Former President of Ireland Mary Robinson said last week:
“That Ireland will emerge stronger from the current economic crisis” is true.
It’s the Irish tradition to keep the faith and perhaps
a return to tradition is what this country has been missing.
