Making a wooden sieve - John Hamilton

The name of this craftsman was John Hamilton. In the summer of 1948, A.T. Lucas, along with Kevin Danaher of the Irish Folklore Commission, visited John Hamilton at his residence in Kitchenstown, Naul, County Dublin. They thoroughly documented and filmed the entire process of sieve making as performed by the talented craftsman.

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Making a cart - James Kelliher

In the summer of 1972, curator John O’Sullivan and photographer Brendan Doyle of the National Museum of Ireland recorded 70-year-old wheelwright James Kelliher of Glenflesk, Co. Kerry, making a donkey cart using traditional hand tools.

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The Murray Documents

In 2023, the National Museum of Ireland acquired a donation of 40 documents belonging to the Murray family that lived in rural County Sligo.

The well-preserved documents span 150 years from the early nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century and give a snapshot of the lives of a typical farming family.

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Making a lidded tin can - Bernard Mongan

In 1965, expert tinsmith Bernard Mongan was filmed and photographed on behalf of the National Museum of Ireland as he worked at his encampment in Cahermorris, Co. Galway. 

Mr Mongan was filmed making a seven quart lidded tin can, which involved many steps. The whole process took Mr. Mongan little more than 15 minutes from start to finish. 

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