Waterford County Museum

Dungarvan Ironwork Articles available to view and download

We are delighted to announce that the complete series of articles about vintage ironwork in Dungarvan by William Fraher which appeared in the local newspapers and on our website over the last number of weeks is now available to view and download here:

Download: Historic Ironwork in Dungarvan (.pdf file)

Free Online Zoom Lecture - Results of the Gallowshill 2019 Archaeological Dig

Thursday 20^th August 2020 at 14.00.

The results of the 2019 Gallowshill Archaeological Dig by Waterford County Museum’s archaeological group are being presented online. Participation in this Heritage Week event is free but must be booked at eventbrite.ie/e/gallows-hill

Country gates contd.

Continuing our series about country gates in the countryside around Dungarvan.

Here are more drawings by William Fraher of some ornate gates.

Digital Atlas of Ireland to be launched as part of Heritage Week

The Irish Historic Towns Atlas (IHTA) announces the launch of the Digital Atlas of Dungarvan as part of Heritage Week (15–23 August 2020), where the theme this year is ‘Learning from our heritage’.

The Digital Atlas of Dungarvan will be launched on 18 August 2020 ahead of the publication of the printed atlas — IHTA, no. 30, Dungarvan/Dún Garbhán — which is due for publication in October 2020.

The new digital atlas is an interactive map that allows users to explore the urban heritage of the town of Dungarvan in their own way. Freely available and accessible online, it provides layers of historical maps that show how the town plan has changed over time. A specially digitised base map shows the town in 1841, where detailed historical information on over 700 individual sites has been incorporated and is available in pop-up boxes (see above). In this way, features of the past townscape, such as the long disappeared medieval defensive walls, are revealed and may be examined alongside more familiar streets and buildings. The Heritage Council has asked communities to explore ‘Heritage on their doorstep’ for this year’s Heritage Week — Dungarvan residents, students and visitors are invited to do just that via the Digital Atlas of Dungarvan.

The Digital Atlas of Dungarvan will be available from 18 August 2020 on https://www.ria.ie/digital-atlas-dungarvan

Waterford County Museum is delighted to be part of this project.

Become an Ironwork Detective

Download: Historic Ironwork in Dungarvan (.pdf file)

Waterford County Museum has recently published online and in the local press a series of articles about vintage ironwork in Dungarvan. We would like to expand this project for Heritage Week to include the entire county.

Would you like to become an ironwork detective? Your mission should you choose to accept it is to seek out examples of ironwork in your locality and photograph or draw them. The images with any information should be emailed to info@waterfordmuseum.ie

Suggested examples include house and field gates, window guards, drain covers, lamps, seats, railings, pillars, graveyard memorials and grave surrounds, post boxes, pumps, etc.

All the images and information will be combined with the material collected to date and be made available as an online resource for the community.

Country Gates

Throughout our countryside the remains of rusty old gates can be seen but more and more they are being removed and replaced by modern gates. Many of these gates date to the 19^th century and are a tribute to the skills of the blacksmiths who made them. Those same blacksmiths also made more elaborate gates for the entrances to farmhouses, large and small.

Field gate near Kilgobnet. Drawing by W. Fraher 1980.

Gerald Tyler’s article on these gates is a great introduction to the topic. He notes that:

‘Many of the gates are stamped with the smith’s trade-mark and it is not unusual to find ordinary gates bearing a date nearly 200 years old. That they have survived many years of opening, climbing over, and being pushed against is a tribute to the maker’s skill and sense of practical design’.

While the gates were first of all functional, they also allowed the blacksmith to introduce decorative elements. The smiths were inventive and the gates which can be seen in our countryside all vary in their finished design. Blacksmiths also had their own distinctive mark or sometimes their name or initials are stamped on the gate.

Field gate, Ballyduff. Drawing by W. Fraher 1980.

Field gate, Ballyduff. Drawing by W. Fraher 1980

A standard arrangement of the elements was essential for the gate to function properly. Many gates have one horizontal brace to ensure the gate is square. In later gates these are replaced by a hoop and as Tyler states: ‘The hooped brace required much sledgehammering in its shaping and a hooped gate might take twice as long to make as one with a straight brace…many gates are made in whole, or in part, from old wheel bands which have been re-worked’.

To ensure that small animals could not squeeze through, the space between the horizontal bars was reduced the nearer they were to the ground.

Iron field gates are unique to Ireland as most field gates in England were constructed of wood. Therefore, we should treasure those which remain and make a visual record of them. If you would like to help please take part in our Heritage Week project – ‘Become an Ironwork Detective’ Photograph or draw gates near you and send the images and information to info@waterfordmuseum.ie

Gerald Tyler, The Iron Gate – Relic of a Forgotten Craft, Old Kilkenny Review, 1977. pp.278-283.

The Vernacular Forged Wrought Iron Field Gate, Kilkenny Co Council 2014.

www.irishbacksmiths.com Guide to Best Practices for the Restoration of Irish Historic Ironwork, 2013.

Field gate near Dungarvan. Drawing by W. Fraher 1980

Gate drawings - Details of field gate ornamentation, West Waterford.
Drawings by W. Fraher 1980

Dungarvan's Ironwork Heritage Part 16 - Lost Ironwork

In recent times decorative ironwork pieces have been destroyed or removed from commercial and private houses in Dungarvan and Abbeyside. These include window guards, foot scrapers, railings, and an impressive weathervane from the Old Market House in Lower Main Street. Fortunately, the weathervane, which was made by MacFarlane’s foundry has been restored and preserved by the council. The other items were not so fortunate and survive only in photographs. A selection of lost ironwork is reproduced here.

Weathervane by MacFarlane’s which once decorated the roof of the Old Market House

Cast-iron letters by MacFarlane’s which once decorated the facade of the Old Market House, Main Street. The lettering ‘Robert A. Merry, Wine Merchants’ was removed in the early 1980s when the building was converted for a Library/Museum.