Thatching (and still sailing) - my fourth podcast

the latest podcast in the Fiona Is Travelling podcast series is an interview with County Wexford thatcher Matt Whelan.   (Recorded in Kilmore Quay in May, mixed here in the Maddalena Archipelago marine conservation area, Sardinia on board the catamaran "Graceful Days" in July 2018.)
I saw this intriguing little scarecrow on top of one of the thatching jobs across from the cottage I was staying in in Kilmore Quay. 
I found a calendar celebrating his thatching career in the local community centre; and on his linked in profile he listed himself as 'thatcher and part time philosopher".  So i had a hunch he'd be a good person to interview!  

And I was very happy when he agreed to come and meet me near the harbour at the end of my stay (listen out for sea birds).  

Well worth listening I think. 
. “We don’t go back to a job now for 20 years…. In the old days they had to get it done every seven years. The craft wasn’t at a very high standard – probably stemming back to the famine when we would have lost all the proper craftsmen out of the country, and I don’t think we ever recovered from that.”.....
I've been travelling and recording/making podcasts since May. Once I've edited a few more of my interviews I'll be putting these out on all the usual podcast outlets; in the meantime they're hosted on the Hannah Frank Art website and I'd love your comments.
Please feel free to listen and share!
#irishhistory #traditions #podcasting #travelling #Irishnationalheritagepark
music by Billy O'Dwyer Bob - Mona Lisa Smile - and Matthew Whelan himself - Lullaby for Jess (There's a hole in the sky). Vocals Mary Whelan, guitar Nadia Gerber (Guitariste classique), piano Declan Cosgrove 

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