Saving Ireland's ‘straw crowns'
In a hall in Portnoo, students at the Donegal Thatching School clamber over practice roofs under the watchful eye of Brian Lafferty, one of Ireland's last master thatchers.
'That's it, start at the eaves and work from there,' said the 72-year-old, peering upwards as a student laid and fixed batches of flax straw on top of a purpose-built model house.
'The tradition has almost died out, it's crucial to pass it on to the younger ones,' says the still spritely Lafferty.
Lafferty's expertise was handed down to him by his father.
He grew up in County Donegal, the part of Ireland with the highest number of surviving thatched cottages.
'When I'm up on a roof I can almost hear the music that was played inside in years past, I think of the lives that were lived below,' he said.
Kilpatrick working on the roof of a thatched cottage in Bunbeg. — AFP
But he lamented that younger people don't have his 'deep well of lived experience to draw from'.
That makes it less painful to pull down a thatched house and build a modern one up with slate or tiled roofs, said Lafferty.
'It could have taken three years to gather up the stones to build a thatch house, but you could toss it in 10 minutes with a machine,' he said with a tear in his eye.
Perched on a ladder halfway up a roof, Fidelma Toland, a novice thatcher determined to keep the ancient way alive, listened keenly to Lafferty's guidance.
The 43-year-old barworker and farmer still lives in the thatched house where her grandfather and mother were born.
'I want to learn how to maintain it,' Toland said with a smile.
The school, 260km northwest of Dublin near Ireland's scenic western coast, opened in October, and runs free, government-funded weekend courses on different styles and methods.
Lafferty showing a thatching rope; and a closeup of a thatching rope. — AFP
Open days have drawn packed houses while 20 beginners have signed up to learn so far, some travelling large distances, according to Conal Shovlin, one of the founders.
'There's a new appreciation for this iconic part of Irish culture, most rural people lived in thatched houses up to around 70 or 80 years ago,' said Shovlin.
The bespectacled 74-year-old, who was born in a cottage thatched with bent grass from nearby sand dunes, said his father's passion for thatching rubbed off on him.
'The density of the thatch keeps the home warm in the winter and cool in the summer, they're practical as well as beautiful,' he said, his hand resting on tied flax bundles.
And 'rain runs off a thatched roof like off a duck's back', he added with a smile.
Breathing life into an endangered craft 'is like nurturing a small plant,' said Shovlin, who would like to see certified 25-week courses become part of college curricula nationwide.
Lafferty showing a thatching rope; and a closeup of a thatching rope. — AFP
He estimates there are around 300 to 400 remaining cottages around Ireland that need urgent repair work.
And there are only an estimated 10 full-time thatchers left in the country, with reports of thatchers from Poland being brought in to help.
A recent audit revealed a 30% decline in the number of thatched houses in Donegal during the last decade.
'They're disappearing, but they're not big houses and aren't that hard to fix,' said Shovlin, adding when he was a boy there were 25 thatched roofs on his route to school.
Now there were only three.
As well as a dearth of skilled workers, a lack of raw materials – straw, flax and water-reed – is also an obstacle.
A closeup showing how rope thatching is made; and rope thatching attached to a wall. — AFP
Reed was previously harvested in Ireland, but is now imported from countries like Romania and Turkiye.
It is the most durable material, lasting around 20 years, whereas flax needs replacing after about 10 and straw after five.
Shovlin points enviously at neighbouring England where thatched roofs are more common than in Ireland.
'They have a great supply network for their thatchers while we've neglected it completely,' said Shovlin.
Farmers should be incentivised to plant so-called 'heritage' crops like flax which could also be grown at agricultural colleges, he said.
Ivor Kilpatrick, a master thatcher and one of the few flax growers in Ireland, regularly takes the students on renovation projects.
Kilpatrick learnt the skill aged 16 from his father and now runs a thatching business with his own son.
'There is too much work and too few people to carry it out as they retire,' said the 58-year-old while sprucing up the roof on a holiday cottage beside the Atlantic Ocean.
Hauling fresh batches of straw with a student from a van to the house he said, 'Hopefully more people will realise these are cherished symbols of Ireland.' — AFP
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
7 hours ago
- The Star
With poetry and chants, Omanis strive to preserve ancient language
An aerial picture shows the Wadi Darbat lake in the region of Dhofar, near Oman's Salalah city. Photo: AFP Against the backdrop of southern Oman's lush mountains, men in traditional attire chant ancient poems in an ancient language, fighting to keep alive a spoken tradition used by just two percent of the population. Sitting under a tent, poet Khalid Ahmed al-Kathiri recites the verses, while men clad in robes and headdresses echo back his words in the vast expanse. "Jibbali poetry is a means for us to preserve the language and teach it to the new generation," said Kathiri, 41. The overwhelming majority of Omanis speak Arabic, but in the mountainous coastal region of Dhofar bordering Yemen, people speak Jibbali, also known as Shehri. Researcher Ali Almashani described it as an "endangered language" spoken by no more than 120,000 people in a country of over five million. 'Protected by isolation' While AFP was interviewing the poet, a heated debate broke out among the men over whether the language should be called Jibbali - meaning "of the mountains" - or Shehri, and whether it was an Arabic dialect. Almashani said it was a fully-fledged language with its own syntax and grammar, historically used for composing poetry and proverbs and recounting legends. The language predates Arabic, and has origins in Semitic south Arabian languages, he said. He combined both names in his research to find a middle ground. "It's a very old language, deeply rooted in history," Almashani said, adding that it was "protected by the isolation of Dhofar". "The mountains protected it from the west, the Empty Quarter from the north, and the Indian Ocean from the south. This isolation built an ancient barrier around it," he said. But remoteness is no guarantee for survival. Other languages originating from Dhofar like Bathari are nearly extinct, "spoken only by three or four people," he said. Some fear Jibbali could meet the same fate. Thirty-five-year-old Saeed Shamas, a social media advocate for Dhofari heritage, said it was vital for him to raise his children in a Jibbali-speaking environment to help keep the language alive. Children in Dhofar grow up speaking the mother-tongue of their ancestors, singing along to folk songs and memorising ancient poems. "If everyone around you speaks Jibbali, from your father, to your grandfather, and mother, then this is the dialect or language you will speak," he said. Not yet documented The ancient recited poetry and chants also preserve archaic vocabulary no longer in use, Shamas told AFP. Arabic is taught at school and understood by most, but the majority of parents speak their native language with their children, he said. After the poetry recital, a group of young children nearby told AFP they "prefer speaking Jibbali over Arabic". But for Almashani, the spectre of extinction still looms over a language that is not taught in school or properly documented yet. There have been recent efforts towards studying Jibbali, with Oman's Vision 2040 economic plan prioritising heritage preservation. Almashani and a team of people looking to preserve their language are hoping for support from Dhofar University for their work on a dictionary with about 125,000 words translated into Arabic and English. The project will also include a digital version with a pronunciation feature for unique sounds that can be difficult to convey in writing. - AFP
Malay Mail
7 hours ago
- Malay Mail
China's Gen Z women revive ‘nushu', a secret script of strength and sisterhood
JIANGYONG (China), Aug 11 — At a studio in central China's Hunan province, a teacher grips an ink brush, gently writing characters of a secret script created by women centuries ago and now being embraced by a new generation. Nushu, meaning 'women's script', emerged around 400 years ago. Barred from attending school, the women secretly learned Chinese characters and adapted them into Nushu, using the script to communicate with each other through letters, song and embroidery. Passed down through generations of women in the remote and idyllic county of Jiangyong, it is now gaining popularity nationwide among Chinese women who view it as a symbol of strength. 'Nushu' instructor Jiang Yanying conducting a pronunciation lesson in a hotel conference room repurposed as a temporary classroom in Jiangyong county, southern China's Hunan province. — AFP pic Student Pan Shengwen said Nushu offered a safe way for women to communicate with each other. 'It essentially creates a sanctuary for us,' the 21-year-old told AFP. 'We can express our thoughts, confide in our sisters and talk about anything.' Compared to Chinese characters, Nushu words are less boxy, more slender and shaped like willow leaves. 'When writing... your breathing must be calm, and only then can your brush be steady,' Pan said. This picture taken on April 14, 2025 shows a student holding a book with 'Nushu' characters during a workshop in Beijing. — AFP pic On Instagram-like Xiaohongshu, the hashtag 'Nushu' has been viewed over 73.5 million times — mostly featuring young women sharing tattoos and other modern work incorporating the old script. Student He Jingying told AFP she had been enrolled in a Nushu class by her mother and that writing it brought her 'a deep sense of calm'. 'It feels like when the brush touches the paper, a kind of strength flows into you.' Against 'injustice' Nushu is more than just a writing system — it represents the lived experiences of rural women from the county, Zhao Liming, a professor at Beijing's Tsinghua University, told AFP. 'It was a society dominated by men,' said Zhao, who has been studying Nushu for four decades. 'Their works cried out against this injustice,' she said. People learning 'Nushu' pronunciation in a hotel conference room repurposed as a temporary classroom in Jiangyong county, southern China's Hunan province. — AFP pic The words are read in the local dialect, making it challenging for native Chinese speakers not from the region to learn it. Teacher He Yuejuan said the writing is drawing more attention because of its elegance and rarity. 'It seems to be quite highly regarded, especially among many students in the arts,' He told AFP outside her gallery, which sells colourful merchandise, including earrings and shawls with Nushu prints. As a Jiangyong native, He said Nushu was 'part of everyday life' growing up. After passing strict exams, she became one of 12 government-designated 'inheritors' of Nushu and is now qualified to teach it. The photo taken on July 21, 2025 shows 'Nushu' inheritor He Yuejuan (right) displaying a 'Nushu' calligraphy work at her workshop at Goulan Yao Village in Jiangyong county, southern China's Hunan province. — AFP pic 'Really special' An hour's drive away, around a hundred Nushu learners packed into a hotel room to attend a week-long workshop organised by local authorities trying to promote the script. Zou Kexin, one of the many participants, told AFP she had read about Nushu online and wanted to 'experience it in person'. 'It's a unique writing system belonging to women, which makes it really special,' said Zou, 22, who attends a university in south-western Sichuan province. Animation student Tao Yuxi, 23, one of the handful of men attending the workshop, told AFP he was learning Nushu to gain inspiration for his creative work. He said his aunt was initially confused about why he was learning Nushu, as it is not typically associated with men. As it represents part of China's cultural heritage, Nushu has to be passed down, he said. 'It's something that everyone should work to preserve — regardless of whether they are women or men.' — AFP
Free Malaysia Today
12 hours ago
- Free Malaysia Today
Historic Spanish mosque-cathedral reopens after blaze
Officials are expected to give an update on the extent of the damage at the mosque-turned-cathedral later today. (AP pic) MADRID : A historic mosque-turned-cathedral in Cordoba in southern Spain reopened today, a day after a blaze that was quickly contained by firefighters, a spokesman for the site said. Considered a jewel of Islamic architecture, the site opened at 10am and will close at 7pm – its regular hours – with only the area where the fire broke out cordoned off to the public, he told AFP. The spectacular blaze broke out yesterday at about 9pm, raising fears for the early medieval architectural gem and evoking memories of the 2019 fire that ravaged Notre Dame cathedral in Paris. Widely shared videos had shown flames and smoke billowing from inside the major tourist attraction, visited by two million people per year. Firefighters quickly contained the blaze and Cordoba's mayor, Jose Maria Bellido, told Spanish media said the monument was 'saved'. 'Luckily, the rapid and magnificent intervention of the Cordoba firefighters averted a catastrophe. The fire is now out, and tonight firefighters and local police teams will remain on site to avoid any risk,' he added on X late yesterday. Officials are expected to give an update on the extent of the damage later today. ABC and other newspapers reported that a mechanical sweeping machine had caught fire in the site. The site was built as a mosque – on the site of an earlier church – between the 8th and 10th centuries by the southern city's then Muslim ruler, Abd ar-Rahman, an emir of the Umayyad dynasty. After Christians reconquered Spain in the 13th century under King Ferdinand III of Castile, it was converted into a cathedral and architectural alterations were made over following centuries.
