More than just a roof

THATCHING: SCHOOL TRAINS NEW GENERATION TO KEEP IRISH FEATURE ALIVE

- 

A new school in Ireland is training up a fresh generation of thatchers in a bid to save the country's disappearing thatched roofs, an iconic feature of the Irish landscape.

In a hall in Portnoo, students at the Donegal Thatching School clamber over practice roofs under the watchful eye of Brian Lafferty, one of Ireland's last master thatchers.

"That's it, start at the eaves and work from there," said the 72-year-old, peering upwards as a student laid and fixed batches of flax straw on top of a purpose-built model house.

"The tradition has almost died out; it's crucial to pass it on to the younger ones," the still spritely Lafferty said.

Lafferty's expertise was handed down to him by his father. He grew up in County Donegal, the part of Ireland with the highest number of surviving thatched cottages.