The Irish Georgian Society and its Birr Chapter wishes to thank all those who made the Offaly’s Heritage Buildings Show on Oxmantown Mall, Birr on Saturday 15^th and Sunday 16^th June 2024 such a friendly, fun and informative conservation occasion.

We wish to thank Offaly County Council’s Architectural Conservation Officer and Senior Executive Architect, Rachel McKenna and Heritage Officer, Amanda Pedlow for agreeing to partner on the event.

The exhibition was formally launched at 1pm on Saturday by Hugh Wallace, presenter of Great Irish House Revival with Rachel McKenna opening the event with a welcome addressed followed by Donough Cahill, IGS Executive Director.

Together they praised the highly skilled traditional building skills craftspeople who agreed to give over their weekend to demonstrate at the Offaly’s Heritage Buildings Show and promote the importance of using appropriate traditional methods and materials in the conservation of our built heritage.

Over two dozen craftspeople actively demonstrate key traditional building skills needed for the conservation of old buildings including: sash window repairs, stained glass & fanlight conservation, stone carving, dry stonewall construction, use of lime-based mortars and hemp, brick pointing, brick making, decorative plasterwork, sign writing, ironwork, slate roofing, gilding, wallpaper making, thatching, pole lathe turning and decorative paint effects. The Society wishes to thank the below craftspeople, traditional building skills companies and conservation organisations who demonstrated and took stands at the exhibition. Many of whom travelled substantial distances.

Thank you to our Exhibitors:

• Damien Condon of Calx Renders https://calxrestoration.com/
• Decowell Restoration & Decoration https://www.decowell.co.uk
• David Skinner Wallpapers http://www.skinnerwallpaper.com
• Design ‘n’ Décor sign writer Gerry McGarrigle gerrydecor736@gmail.com
• Dry Stone Wall Association of Ireland https://www.dswai.ie
• Ecological Building Systems https://www.ecologicalbuildingsystems.com
• Eoin Donnelly, Pole Lathe Turner thebodgershovel@gmail.com
• Eoin Madigan of Madigan Traditional Masonry eoin.madigan@hotmail.com
• threecatforge@gmail.com
• George O'Malley Decorative Plastering https://www.omalleyplastering.com
• Gerry McGarrigle, Sign Writer gerrydecor736@gmail.com
• Glasshaus Studio https://www.glasshaus.ie
• King’s Foundation’s All-Ireland Heritage Skills Programme, Hugh Kavanagh https://www.kings-foundation.org/education/all-ireland-programme
• Nathaniel Clements Decorative Painter https://www.instagram.com/clementsandmoore
• National Built Heritage Services & the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage https://www.buildingsofireland.ie
• Nolans Group Conservation & Restoration https://nolansgroup.ie
• Patrick McIntyre & Sons Ltd Roofers & General Contractors mcintyrepadraig@hotmail.com
• Philip Doran Thatching www.philipdoranthatcher.ie
• Register of Heritage Contractors, Gillian Ross www.heritageregistration.ie
• Sash Window Solutions https://sashwindowsolutions.ie
• Smith & Henderson Stuccodores https://www.smithandhendersonstuccodoresltd.com
• Society for Protection of Ancient Buildings Ireland https://www.spab.org.uk/about-...
• Stonemad Philip Quinn https://www.igs.ie/conservation/register/entry/stonemad
• The Traditional Lime Company https://www.traditionallime.ie
• The Old Builders Company https://www.oldbuilders.com
  
  

The Society was particularly pleased that after over two decades of our annual traditional building skills exhibitions, that we finally had an opportunity to bring the exhibition to Birr, rightly lauded as Ireland’s finest Georgian town, and home of the thriving Birr Chapter of the IGS, which has championed the town’s built heritage for over three decades with its Patron, the Earl of Rosse at the helm.

We wish to thank the Birr IGS Chapter Chair, Joe Breen, and fellow Birr Chapter committee members Victoria Browne, Lady Alicia Clements, Elizabeth Fogarty, John Joyce, Bill Schleicher and Jim Lucey for all their support in the seamless delivery on the exhibition; and in particular we wish to thank John Joyce who led a wonderful walking tour of Birr’s built heritage to over 50 attendees; and Lady Alicia Clements and Alison Countess of Rosse for leading a tour of Birr Castle for all the traditional building skills demonstrators on the Saturday evening.

In tandem with the traditional building skills demonstrations were two days of hourly free interactive talks that celebrated Offaly’s rich built heritage from the polite formal architecture to its traditionally built vernacular buildings.

The Society wishes to thank the speakers who generously shared their expertise knowledge on the following subjects:

• Tom Pollard, conservation stonemason (Vernacular Buildings: re-use maintenance & repair: understanding the Vacant & Derelict Property Refurbishment Grant)
• Rachel McKenna, Senior Executive Architect, Architectural Conservation Officer, Offaly County Council, Grade I RIAI Conservation Accredited, and author of Traditional Architecture in Offaly– history, materials and furniture 1800 to present day (Traditional Vernacular Architecture of Offaly: understanding & conserving)
• Susan Roundtree, co-author of the Department’s Advice Series: A Guide to the Repair of Historic Brickwork, and author of Brickmaking in Ireland (The Importance of Brick in our Buildings and the Significance of County Offaly’s brickmaking legacy)
• Hugh Wallace, architect and presenter of TV series Great Irish House Revival and Home of the Year (Does Every Lath and Plaster Ceiling Deserve to be Preserved?)
• Damian Murphy, Architectural Heritage Officer, NIAH, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (The National Inventory of Architectural Heritage and the Buildings of Offaly)
• Dr Andrew Tierney, ERC Post-doctoral Research Fellow, STONE-WORK, Department of the History of Art and Architecture, Trinity College Dublin & author of Buildings of Ireland: Central Leinster (Historical stonework in Offaly and surrounding counties)
• Laura Bowen, Principal Laura Bowen, Grade I RIAI Conservation Accredited & co-author of the Department’s Advice Series: A Guide to the Repair of Historic Roofs (Historic Roofs: their care & repair)
• David Skinner, wallpaper maker, conservator and researcher and author of Wallpaper in Ireland, 1700-1900 (Flocks and Rainbows: some historic wallpapers in County Offaly and how they were made)
• Dr Fidelma Mullane, cultural geographer specialising in the study and conservation of vernacular architecture, President of ICOMOS Ireland and convenor of the National Scientific Committee on Vernacular Heritage of ICOMOS (Irish Thatched Houses: understanding Offaly’s regional styles & materials in context)
• Carl Raftery, Architectural Conservation Advisor, National Built Heritage Service, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and co-editor of Department’s Improving Energy Efficiency in Traditional Buildings (Energy Efficiency in Traditional Buildings: planning implications and grants)
• Frank Keohane, Chartered Historic Building Surveyor, Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors Building Conservation Accredited & author of Irish Period Houses: a conservation manual (The Importance of Preventative Maintenance & Dealing with Damp in your Traditionally Built House)
• Dr Nessa Roche, Senior Architectural Advisor, National Built Heritage Service, Department of Housing, Local Government & Heritage, author of The Legacy of Light: a History of Irish Windows and the Department’s Conservation Advice Series: A Guide to the Repair of Historic Windows. (Historic Windows: their significance, history & conservation)
• Tom McGimsey, Principal MESH Architects, Grade I RIAI Conservation Accredited and committee member of the Building Limes Forum Ireland. (The Importance of Using Lime in Historic Buildings)

These talks were held in the Birr Theatre & Arts Centre (a most fitting historic building designed by Cassandra Countess of Rosse in 1888) and our sincere thanks to the Birr Theatre’s Manager, Emma Nee Haslam and Marketing Officer, Gildas le Pallec for all their work in hosting us; as well as the CIF’s Register of Heritage Contractors, Engineers Ireland, Irish Planning Institute and the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland for recognising the talks as formal CPD for their members.

On Saturday 15^th, for younger attendees to the Offaly’s Heritage Buildings Show, there were Cruinniú na nÓg children’s workshops. This aspect of the show was made possible thanks to funding from Creative Ireland, and we wish to thank Offaly County Council's Creative Communities Engagement Officer Karen Gray for organising funding for these workshops, as well as the Jackie McIntyre and Sinead Hogan in Offaly County Council libraries for all their work in facilitating the workshops. The workshops took place the Ionic temple John’s Hall, which happens to be the symbol of our IGS Birr Chapter and was designed by Bernard Mullins in circa 1828. Thanks too to the kind and enthusiastic Lauren Byrne of Irish Heritage Schools for overseeing all the workshops.

The Society greatly appreciate the time invested in preparing and delivering the workshops on stone carving by Philip Quinn of Stone Mad; wallpaper making by David Skinner of David Skinner Wallpaper; fanlight making by Liam McCorkell of Glasshaus Studios; gilding and stencilling by Ruth Bothwell of Decowell; traditional brick making by Shane and Aaron of Nolan Conservation & Restoration; and lime rendering by Edward Byrne of The Traditional Lime Company.

It was fantastic to see the high level of engagement and participation at these ancillary Offaly’s Heritage Buildings Show events, as well as the enthusiasm and appreciation of the public who visited the exhibition over the course of the weekend to receive free, accurate and impartial advice on traditional methods and materials needed to best conserve their Offaly heritage buildings.

The Offaly's Heritage Buildings Show represented a coming together of the conservation community: state; semi-state; non-governmental organizations; and independent conservation practitioners and professionals. Without all these stakeholders' generosity and support it would not be possible to deliver the exhibition and allied activities.

Critically, the last word of thanks goes to the Offaly's Heritage Buildings Show funders: The Heritage Council who provided funding through the Heritage Stewardship Grant Scheme; the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage who provided funding for the Irish Georgian Society's Conservation Education Programme of which the Offaly's Heritage Buildings Show was an action; Offaly County Council; and Creative Ireland.

Copyright of above photographs Evin O'Toole (@malfi_productions). Photographs below taken by IGS.

Tom O'Hanlon (tomohanlonphotography.com)