DONEGAL County Council has announced that its first awardee under the pilot Rope Thatch Mentorship Scheme is David McFerren.

He will work alongside master rope thatcher Brian Lafferty.

David is originally from County Down and has strong family connections in the Inishowen area of Donegal.

The Rope Thatch Mentoring Scheme was initiated by the Conservation Office and the Heritage Office of Donegal County Council with support from Creative Ireland, the National Built Heritage Service, The Heritage Council and Donegal County Council as part of the implementation of the County Donegal Heritage Plan.

“Our pilot Rope Thatch Mentorship Scheme is the first of its kind in Ireland” explained Collette Beattie, Conservation Officer, Donegal County Council.

“The mentorship will sponsor David to work with master rope thatcher Brian Lafferty on a part-time basis for six months.  He will shadow Brian who will instruct him in the skill of rope thatching, the use of thatch materials, the repair of historic rope thatch and will provide him with hands-on experience of rope thatching.

“The selection process was based on those people who have undertaken initial rope thatch training courses at the new Donegal Thatching School in Kilclooney in west Donegal.  They were invited to apply to the pilot Rope Thatch Mentorship Scheme and applicants were assessed on the basis of their previous thatch training and/or experience, their reasons for applying to the Rope Thatch Mentorship Scheme and their demonstrated commitment to pursuing a career in thatching.

Master rope thatcher Brian Lafferty thatching the Scutcher’s Cottage with flax at Newmills near Letterkenny. Photos: Joseph Gallagher

“The aim of the pilot Rope Thatch Mentorship Scheme is to provide a training opportunity for a person who wants to pursue a career in thatching in County Donegal.

“Through Donegal County Council’s award-winning Thatch Repair Grant Scheme over the past seven years, we have seen the need and opportunities for rope thatchers in the county.  If there are rope thatchers in the county who are willing to undertake historic thatch repairs or if they have opportunities to mentor a person in rope thatching, we would like to hear for them.”

County Donegal is one of the few places in Ireland where rope thatching is still practised.

“Rope thatching is the predominant thatching method in the west and north of the county” explained Joseph Gallagher, County Donegal Heritage Officer.

“On rope thatched houses, the thatch is held in place by a network of ropes, and now chicken wire, that extend from eave to eave via the ridge of the roof and from gable to gable.  These ropes are tied to stones or metal pegs projecting at the top of the walls underneath the eaves.

“The skill of the rope thatcher is usually seen in his or her attention to detail around the chimney, the gable, the eaves or the ridge of the roof.  Our concern is that this indigenous method of Donegal rope thatching is being replaced by scollop thatching, non-traditional styles and even synthetic thatch particularly in the west and north of the county.

“This iconic form of rope thatching and the craftsmanship of the rope thatcher are being erased from County Donegal’s cultural landscape.  It’s remarkable that this deficit in traditional building skills hasn’t been addressed by training agencies as it has the possibility to provide apprenticeships in thatching, careers as thatchers and badly-needed skills in historic building conservation to support the construction industry.

“We hope that initiatives such as the new Donegal Thatching School in Kilclooney and the new thatch training course being offered by Kilkenny & Carlow Education & Training Board and The Heritage Council will, in time, help to address this deficit.

“In the meantime, our priority is to stop the alarming rate of loss of historic rope thatch in County Donegal in recent years.  Evidence shows that 27 per cent of the historic thatch properties have been lost in the past 15 years and that a further 10 per cent of them are in a poor or very poor conditions.

“A particular cause of concern is the replacement of historic thatch by some homeowners with slate when only repairs are required to save and conserve the historic thatch.  Homeowners are reminded that permission is required from Donegal County Council to replace an historic thatched roof as it constitutes a material alteration to the structure.”

If you are a rope thatcher interested in working in County Donegal or if you want to pursue a career in rope thatching, please contact Collette Beattie, Conservation Officer or Joseph Gallagher, Heritage Officer on (074) 917 2576 or by e-mail at thatch@donegalcoco.ie