6 Historicthatch(Ireland) studya: n interimreport J B Letts reports on an important project which it is hoped will produce a detailed picture of Irish thatching practice. In the early spring of 1996, a research project on the history of thatching in Ireland funded jointly by the DoE (N. Ireland) and the DACG (Ireland) began with a tour of 40 thatched buildings in Ulster province. The study is being conducted by John Letts of Reading University, an archaeobotanist who has pioneered the analysis of ancient thatch over the last four years in research projects commissioned by English Heritage and the governments of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. In an initial study of 'smokeblackened' thatch recovered from the base coats of late medieval open-hall buildings, and in Thatching in England from 1790 to 1940 undertaken jointly with building historianJames Moir, Mr. Letts has integrated the in situ evidence from excavations of ancient, multi-layered thatched roofs with ethnographic, historical and technical data to provide an overview of thatching over the past five centuries. This provides the academic and historical basis for legislative action which English Heritage which has been under pressure to adopt to protect historically significant roofs, materials and thatching techniques. Research on thatching in Ireland follows roughly the same approach and has broadly similar goals, although with a greater emphasis on recording the in situ evidence which survives from every historical period and highlighting technical issues which could improve the performance - and hence the economic viability- of thatch vis a vis common alternatives. The research is propitious as traditional Irish thatch is in an advanced stage of decline, but evidence of the techniques and materials used in the Flax thatch, County Londonderry. past survives either under corrugated iron or on semi-derelict houses scattered throughout the countryside. The new'Euro-thatch' that is emerging to take its place relies on imported materials and methods which are far removed from Irish tradition and are in many ways unsuited to Irish climatic conditions. An integrated study will provide a basis for legislation which could help preserved at least a portion of ancient Irish thatched roofs, as well as elucidate some of the underlying factors that should be taken into account by owners, thatchers, architects and Conservation Officers as 'Irish thatch' adapts to the economic and technical realities of the new millennium. ProjectBrief The core of the field work involves surveying a selection of multi-layered thatched roofs in each of the four provinces of the island oflreland. Each building is 'excavated' as thoroughly as possible in order to establish a chronological sequence in terms of the materials and techniques used at each rethatching. Essential constructional aspects of the building and roof structure are also recorded, along with details on the local environment and agriculture that will help situate the building in its historical and economic context. Wherever possible, local informants are interviewed to obtain more detailed information on the building and thatching materials and practices once used in the local area. A photographic and video record is also made of the building, the roof and the excavation. Samples are taken of every layer of thatch revealed, and these are later analysed in the laboratory in order to identify the species used and the way in which they were harvested and processed for use as thatch. An immense amount of reliable ethnographic data on thatching in Ireland survives in a unique collection of replies to a questionnaire on thatching that was circulated to thatchers in most counties by the Irish Folklore Commission in the 1940s. Approximately a third of the c.500 replies in the Department of Irish Folklore at University College Dublin are in the Irish language and have been translated into English for the purposes of this study. This collection is without doubt the richest source of information on 'traditional' thatching practices available anywhere in Europe, and will greatly Context 56 December 1997
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