A celebration of Irish thatch.
The picturesque, white-washed thatched cottage is an iconic emblem of Ireland.
The tradition reaches back in history to the ancient crannóg and one-roomed labourers’ cottages. Beautiful examples of this still-living craft can be found all over the island, from bustling urban centres and quiet country roads to the wild coasts of the west.
Since moving into a thatched cottage several years ago, Emma Byrne has become fascinated by thatched houses and the craft behind them. Armed with a camera, a notebook, and a Sat Nav, she took to the roads, travelling the length and breadth of this island to capture the variety and beauty of Ireland’s thatch.
PART ONE:
Chapter One: Brief history of thatch, the perceived/exported view of thatched homes in Ireland .
Chapter Two: The raw materials: wheat, hazel, bamboo, straw reed, rye, some text and images of crops etc
Chapter Three: A Case study, an instructive essay about the process of getting a thatcher, tools, crafts signature etc.
PART TWO
Chapter Four: A selection of thatched homes around Ireland, can be divided in to North South East West
Appendix: list of contractors, information on grants etc
Emma Byrne is a graphic designer and artist. She is a graduate of Central Saint Martins School of Art and Design. She has won numerous awards for her design including The IDI (Irish Design Institute) Graduate Designer of the Year, the IDI Promotional Literature Award for her work on Brown Morning, and a Children’s Books Ireland Bisto Merit Award for her work on Something Beginning With P: New Poems from Irish Poets. She has illustrated many books, including Best-Loved Oscar Wilde, Best Loved Yeats, The Most Beautiful Letter in the World by Karl O’Neill, a special edition of Ulysses by James Joyce, and A Terrible Beauty by Mairéad Ashe Fitzgerald. She lives in a thatched house in Co. Wexford.
