Ireland's only thatching school 'getting great results'

Detailed summary

Ireland's only purpose-built thatching school said it is "getting great results" from people seeking to learn an iconic trade that underpins part of the country's heritage.

Ireland's only purpose-built thatching school said it is "getting great results" from people seeking to learn an iconic trade that underpins part of the country's heritage.

Chairperson of the Donegal Thatching School Conal Shovlin said that people were a "little afraid" whether the school may succeed when it started in October 2024.

A new generation of thatchers is learning the endangered craft from established thatchers at the training facility near the Dolmen Centre in Portnoo, Co Donegal.

The indoor thatching school offers intensive training courses in rope thatching, flax thatching and reed thatching - all associated with different regions of Ireland.

Mr Shovlin said participants include people who wish to maintain their own thatched houses and others who wish to become thatching contractors.

"Our objective is to preserve as many thatched roofs as possible and train younger people because the current thatchers, who we're lucky to have, are all my age.

"The training programmes can vary [in duration]; but the main thing is that we're getting great results from younger people," he said.

Mr Shovlin, who was born in a thatched house, enrolled in a local FÁS thatching training programme along with two friends John Masters and Norman Doherty in 1980.

The three men are at the centre of the thatching school activities, a facility that receives support from a range of State bodies and agencies.

Opening of the article, excerpted from RTÉ. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.