A Celebration of Traditional Craft in Offaly - Past and Present

This evening will feature films from the National Museum of Ireland collection and two new films from 2024 featuring the tradition of basket making and ‘God in a Bottle’. There will be an exhibition of panels highlighting aspects of Traditional Architecture in Offaly by Rachel McKenna, architect with Offaly County Council.

In partnership with the National Museum of Ireland 3 short films will be shown from Offaly which are cared for in the archives of the Irish Film Institute. They include - Building a load of hay on a cart – featuring Bill Egan, Clonfinlough, County Offaly, October 1968; Making a Straw rope featuring the Folklore Collector, Jim Delaney and Bill Egan circa 1968; making a wooden bird crib featuring Bill Egan Clonfinlough, 1969 and making a clothes basket featuring Ciaran D’Arcy Clonascra, 1980. The National Museum of Ireland Folklife collection includes films made from the 1940s to the 1980s commissioned by the National Museum of Ireland in association with the Irish Folklore Commission to record a range of traditional trades, crafts and traditions which were in decline. The key film makers were producer John C. O’Sullivan, director Dr A.T. Lucas and camera man Brendan Doyle..

The two new films feature basket maker Padraig Larkin of Cloghan and the story of God in a Bottle in Offaly – both filmed by Mixed Bag Media and funded by OLDC and the Heritage Council respectively.

Please book your seat with Esker Arts Centre.