The Trades and Crafts of Yesteryear by James Reddiough

The folklore collections of the various areas in Mayo tell us that there were several trades and crafts in the county over the years. They thatched houses and set bones and made wheels for carts in their workshops and in the fields. There were coach builders too and people who could weave a basket from the materials in the environment around them like the willow and the sally trees.

Here is a list of some of the common trades and crafts in the past there was the tanner, the thatcher, wainwright and wheel wright, tailor, blacksmith, coachbuilder, cooper who made barrels, baker and miller, basket maker, the cobbler or shoemaker and the weaver and the stone worker. The workshops could be found in the lanes and alleys of the town or at the crossroads of country areas.

These people were key to the local area and they were much in demand to put a roof on a house and this was very specialist work that meant security and warmth for the household throughout the winter, the bonesetter was essential when an animal or person put out their bones and again this was a trade that required a good deal of precision and accuracy. At a time when people depended on the ass and cart or the horse and cart for transport the wheelwright made the wheels and repaired along with the wainwright and of course at almost every cross roads you had the blacksmith who shod the horses and made sure that they were able to do all the hard work on the farm and in getting people from place to place. The old mill was a common feature of life during the nineteenth century when the farmers would bring their oats to the mill to be crushed the miller would later be replaced by the threshing machine and the grain and the flour would later be used for making oat meal bread.

Before there were carts and because of the condition of the bog people would have creels on the side of the donkey to bring out the turf. These were made from the sallow and the willow trees and they were in use for many years. Baskets were made for carrying in the turf from the stack and for carrying the potatoes from the pit also. Also there was the domestic textile industry also where people grew their own flax and they would then spin the material and weave it on the spinning wheel and the loom and the wool came from the sheep on the farm. It was commonplace during the 1800’s for people to have a garden or plot of flax along with oats and potatoes and this flax was produced into linen cloth which was then dyed from dye derived from the moss plant. The people were truly self-sufficient at the time. There was the cobbler too to mend people’s shoes and this saved a good deal of money on people in the frugal times of the early 1900’s and after indeed.

One can only marvel at the walls or fences that they see around the country these were there prior to the barb wire fences and they have stood the test of time because they were built by the local stone mason and the barns or offices as they were called and the cottages were built by him too.

This is just a brief survey of the trades and the crafts people who lived in urban and rural areas in the days gone by and there has been a revival in these trades over the decades and long may it continue to create much needed employment.