Traditional Irish Craft--Friday Feature

In 2011, I discovered some of the most wonderful traditional Irish crafts on DVDs in a series called Hands, by filmmakers David Shaw-Smith and his wife, Sally.

This is a fascinating and unique documentary series on Traditional Irish Crafts and Lifestyles, where the emphasis is on the skill of human hands rather than on machines.

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Hands was a favorite Irish television documentary series broadcast by RTÉ between 1978 and 1989, covering traditional Irish crafts.

It was produced by filmmakers David Shaw-Smith and his wife, Sally, who traveled the country in their Volkswagen camper van.

They chatted with and filmed various traditional craftsmen and women, compiling a 36-part series that was later broadcast on Irish television.

The series features bee skep making, rush basketmaking, rush seat weaving, spinning wool, thatching roofs, making Irish linen, rug making, silversmithing, bookbinding, shoe making, carriage building, harp making, pottery, willow eel traps, cabinetmaking, cooper, chair making, woolen blankets, lace making, and many others over the years.

I was fortunate to purchase the “Of Bees and Bee Skeps” DVD when David had his Etsy store in 2011, and found it really interesting and useful in my bee skep classes that I offered at North House Folk School.

Hands-Bee Skep Making DVD, part of a series of traditional Irish crafts. — Bee Skep Making #36 Traditional Irish Crafts Series

I was also able to purchase the “Rushwork” DVD about making baskets out of rush. I was hoping that there might also be chair seat weaving in rush on that last DVD, but David said, via email, that it’s mostly basketweaving instead.

Hands-Rushwork #30 in a documentary series by David Shaw-Smith of traditional Irish crafts. — Hands-Rushwork: traditional Irish crafts

There are many, many more delightful craft DVDs in this series. When I purchased the DVDs in 2011, they were available through David and Sally’s Etsy shop; however, the shop has since closed.

The entire Hands series of 36 crafts is available to watch on YouTube now through this one playlist. I wanted to post individual videos here, but can’t get permission and must watch on YouTube instead.

And if you want to purchase your own set of DVDs, just click on the direct link here to get the 36-part complete DVD series from Amazon.