Seamus Lawlor has unveiled
a new monument on the grounds of his acclaimed Nore
View Folk Museum in Bennettsbridge to coincide with
Heritage Week. It honours the carpenters of another era in the locality and
every other part of Ireland whose skills were vital to our quality of life as a
nation. In good times and bad, the carpenter was always in demand, the curator
told a contingent of visitors from Australia on Monday. He added: “Whether in
war or peace, boom times or economic downturn, the carpenter can’t be done
without.”
The
monument, on a beautifully crafted plinth, is topped with a steel display case
fronted by quarter inch thick glass which contains a selection of vintage
carpenter’s tools.
Seamus produced a two hundred year old bow saw at the
unveiling. He said it reminded him of a legend associated with the Holy family
that was current in his childhood: It stated that Saint Joseph, one of the most
famous of all carpenters, one day noticed the infant Jesus playing with a piece
of broken steel which he was rubbing against a stone. It gradually assumed a
jagged edge. The future Saviour of Mankind then proceeded to cut a sliver of
wood in half with it, thus inventing the saw.
Joseph,
according to the legend, immediately recognized the significance of this and
spread the word and before long all the carpenters in the Holy Land were happily
sawing timber for fires and building.
Whatever
about the accuracy of this legend, Seamus paid a warm
tribute to all those skilled craftspeople, whether practical carpenters or
artists, who have been “knocking on wood” since the dawn of time. He especially
hailed those in his own locality who had served the community with their craft.
He recounted how the first carts in the district had wooden wheels, these in
time being reinforced with steel rims by the blacksmiths. He also emphasized
that Bennettsbridge carpenters had a proud record in
wisely utilising wood from trees felled in sustainable forests.
Seamus says everyone is welcome to view the monument,
along with the 12,000 other exhibits at the museum, which continues to attract
visitors from across the globe.
Though the
monument was designed by Seamus himself, print and
sign work was by Derek Maher of Dublin Road, Kilkenny, Pre-Cast Concrete
supplied the plinth, and Stephen Fitzpatrick of Bennettsbridge engineered the monument impeccably into place
with his forklift.
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the most famous carpenter of all
