In conversation with Melanie McQuade & Bronagh Lanigan

In our sixth episode, we chat with Melanie McQuade and Bronagh Lanigan.

Melanie McQuade is the Heritage Officer in Westmeath. She has worked in the heritage sector for over twenty years. Melanie  was appointed Westmeath’s Heritage Officer in 2017. Before that she was an archaeologist and her most exciting work involved the discovery of 6,000 year old wooden fishing traps from a part of the capital city that was then Dublin Bay.

Bronagh Lanigan is a History of Art graduate of University College Dublin and has completed two post-graduate diplomas in Architectural Inventory and Recording (DIT, Bolton Street) and Applied Building Repair and Conservation (Trinity College Dublin). Bronagh has long had an interest in historic buildings and having worked on inventories of thatched buildings in County Laois and South Tipperary County, has developed a keen interest and understanding of vernacular thatched structures. Established by Bronagh Lanigan and Sinead Hughes in 2001, Architectural Recording and Research (AR&R) specialises in large and small-scale inventories and architectural heritage reports.  It is an architectural heritage consultancy which provides conservation and research services to a variety of clients.  

In today's chat, we discuss Melanie and Bronagh's individual journeys into their respective careers. They discuss their views on the history and conservation of Thatch buildings in Ireland, the Thatch survey currently underway in Co. Westmeath,  their top tips to approach the conservation of a Thatch building, and we find out what their favourite vernacular building is.

Hosted by Tríona Byrne and Róisín Beirne.

Edited by Deirdre Keeley.

Artwork by Róisín Beirne.

Theme music by Cillian Byrne.

Generously supported by the Heritage Council as part of their Heritage Sector Support Fund 2021.

The podcast was recorded on Zoom in July 2021.

If you have a question or feedback on the series, we’d love to hear from you so please get in touch by emailing us at [email protected]. For more information on SPAB Ireland visit www.spab.org.uk/about-us/spab-ireland.

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https://www.advertiser.ie/athlone/article/123475/survey-of-thatched-buildings-within-county-westmeath

NIAH thatch surveys : https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/search-vernacular-thatch-building-surveys/

Available grants for thatch (and some traditional-building) owners

(https://www.gov.ie/en/press-release/a61a2-built-heritage-investment-scheme-2021/)

Thatching grant  - https://www.gov.ie/en/service/32e72-thatching-grant/

BHIS - Built Heritage Assessment Scheme

https://assets.gov.ie/119389/a240ea6c-d9b8-476c-88c7-1966ade42d10.pdf

Historic Structures Fund -

https://assets.gov.ie/119392/160bc40f-c4e3-450c-b0dd-6d553c34cdcf.pdf

For thatch owners in County Donegal

Stitch in Time Thatch maintenance grant :

https://www.donegalcoco.ie/media/donegalcountyc/heritage/pdfs/Thatch%20Repair%20Grant%20Scheme%202021%20-%20Information.pdf

For thatch owners in Fingal

Stitch in Time maintenance grant :

https://www.fingal.ie/council/service/architectural-heritage-fund-stitch-time-grant

Reed thatching

Oaten thatching

Heritage Council

Heritage Officers

Thatcher contacts from NIAH (2019)

(https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/app/uploads/2019/11/Thatchers-in-Ireland-2019.pdf)

John Conlin :  Mucknagh, Glassan, Athlone, County Westmeath 090 285 784  

Christian Corlett - Wicklows Traditional Farmhouses (2014)

https://www.christiaancorlett.com/services

Wicklow - Traditional house of rural county meath : An inventory of vernacular architecture (2008)

https://www.wicklow.ie/Portals/0/Documents/Planning/Conservation%20Built%20Heritage/Traditional%20Buildings/Traditional_Houses_of_Rural_County_Wicklow_Report_2008.pdf

Westmeath fieldnames survey

http://aengusfinnegan.ie/field-names/

Hattons Forge: Blacksmith of Moydrum video :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlwAIigg25E