Thatching

A local house on the Skerries Road is being thatched.  Thatching is a traditional method of roofing. It was commonly used until slates and tiles became popular about 100 years ago.  Its advantage is that it is warm in winter and cool in summer.  It used to be a cheap method of roofing but now is very expensive due to a lack of thatchers.

To thatch, the roof is stripped to the struts and bundles of straw or reed, depending on the material to be used on the roof, are attached to the rafters.  The first line of thatch is attached at the lower end of the roof, and secured with hazel pegs and hazel rods. Further bundles are laid on top in layers right up to the ridge.  At the ridge an extra layer of thatch is put on and a pattern of hazel is attached to give extra strength.  Sometimes an extra touch, in this case a bird, is added.  The thatchers "signature" is the ridge,  no two thatchers use the same ridge design.

 Can you see the bird on the right hand side of the ridge?

The name for the hazel rods making the pattern on the ridge are "sways".

The gable end of the house. Beautiful.

The Thatcher hard at work using Hazel sways to strengthen the sides of the roof.  This should protect the edges against the prevailing westerly wind. Look closely, the man is wearing very thick knee pads.

Thatch roofs in various parts of Ireland have different details. This roof in Donegal has the typical pegs used to anchor the roof.  The countryside in Donegal is very wind blown and the roof would blow to pieces very quickly otherwise.

Thatched roof in Killybegs, Co Donegal.