This gem of a book published last year, is slim in profile but a ‘bundle’ (to use a thatching term), in fullness of content. Barry O’Reilly is an archeologist and historian. He has written extensively about Ireland’s heritage of traditional buildings. This is marvellous because at the present zealous Irish rate of destruction, we will at least be able to weep over the pretty pictures in his books and keen loudly in mourning over the descriptions of what is and will be, the dust of our ancestors’ legacy.

Within the first number of pages, luddite*, eco-head or neither, you can be persuaded that thatch is the best roofing option for the future. It is the ‘product of a relatively non-polluting human activity. The materials are biodegradeable and thatch is twice as energy-efficient as slate or tile. The more traditional the growing and harvesting methods are, the more ‘green’ it will be.’ It is warm in Winter, cool in Summer and during the hurricane of ‘87 in England, thatched rooves apparently survived considerably better than any other coverings!

Now that we ape and meld the styles of unforgiven invaders with American TV Soap homes, it is no longer the Irish way to design and position new houses into our landscape. Explaining terms such as ‘vernacular’ and ‘formal’ country architecture, Barry O’Reilly paints the vernacular as thoughtfully blending in with the rural surroundings.

He compares types, techniques and tools in thatching, all of which vary to a degree from county to county. Materials were traditionally sourced locally and so vary from Oats to Wheat, Barley, Rye, Reeds and Heather. (In a recent conversation with a thatcher in Cork, I learned of the inclusion of brambles and other vegetative material found in a sooty, 300 year old thatch).

Although the book is confined to thatched buildings in County Offaly, he supplies generally practical advice, useful information and a good bibliography for anyone considering it. Remains of Offaly’s first thatched houses were found about 2 km from Clonmacnoise and date from 900BC.

Not surprisingly, surveys find there is a much higher prevalence of elderly owners to young families in thatched houses. He states: ‘It must be emphasised that the future of Offaly’s [Ireland’s] thatch is in the hands of the owners of thatched buildings. In a world that is changing rapidly, it is essential to retain links and continuity with the past with all its lessons for the present and the future. Protecting and maintaining our heritage enhances local areas in many ways: visually and aesthetically, economically and socially’.

*Luddite: A person opposed to industrialization or new technology.