Looking Back: The dying trade of thatching

We're obliged to PJ Lydon for this undated photograph of rethatching work at The Hermitage, the Nolan family home on the Carnalway Road, writes Brian Byrne.

Though tens of thousands of thatched homes were still occupied in Ireland in the early part of the 20th century, it is now estimated that less than 2,000 still exist.

It seems that, despite a series of state-funded thatching courses in the 1980s and the early 2000s, there is a serious dearth of people with the necessary skills today. Since 2006 there have been no formal training programmes in Ireland.

A shortage of suitable straw adds to the problem, because of combined harvester methods and also the mix of fertiliser used in modern farming which produces straw not ideal for thatching.

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