CULTURE: Keeping the art of basketmaking alive in Mayo

Tom Delaney stands in a field in the middle of willow saplings, reeling off the various types of this versatile plant he feels a deep connection with. He loves working with willow. “It’s a natural material. It comes from the ground. It’s like working with wood and stone. It’s a connection to the land.”
The Claremorris man has built his business as a professional basketmaker. Everything he makes is fully handmade — as he testifies by weaving a wonderful bird feeder within a quarter of an hour.
He is undeniably passionate about willows and making baskets from them but Tom is careful not to give a false impression: “I don’t come from a history of basketmakers. Nothing could be further from the truth,” he says, which is actually hard to believe as he easily recites the history of basketmaking in Ireland and other countries around the world.
Why does he grow willow here in South Mayo? “It’s out of necessity. And necessity is the mother of invention. Willow is a plant that grows really well here. For example over in Mexico they use Yucca. In Asia they use Cane. It’s all about what suits where you are from.”
Tom’s farm is located a few kilometres outside Claremorris, and basketmaking is his business. He was inspired by a keen interest in history. “There’s a quote from a chronicler during the Norman invasion of Ireland. In 1171, when King Henry came here to check up on the Normans, there were no big enough buildings in Dublin for him to hold court, so they built him a palatial structure made of woven willow saplings in keeping with Irish tradition. Ever since I heard this, it’s etched in my brain.”
And now Tom has six beds for willows around Mayo with 15 different types of willow growing on them. And they grow very high, as tall as a man.
“In order to weave with the willow, we need to bring it into condition. First we need to dry it, and then soak it. It has to be soaked a day for every foot it’s long. It would be very hard weaving with a dried out rod. It keeps snapping. The same happens to a fresh rod as well. So when you dry the rod out, you shrink its size but when you soak it after all it doesn’t grow again, it gets super bendy and won’t snap.”

SOURCED LOCALLY Tom with some of the willow he grows in Claremorris.

Increasing demand
There is an increasing demand for willow products. Tom’s business is thriving. His knack for the once common craft did not come completely out of the blue though: “A few generations ago, everyone knew how to do it out of pure necessity. My grandfather made agricultural style baskets. They weren’t there to be pretty. They had to be practical. And my father then knew a bit of weaving. But he wasn’t very good at it. He worked in a post office. So that’s why I don’t want to paint the image that I come from a long lineage of basketmakers.”
Tom Delaney has a background in archaeology. After a stint in Germany he started going into basketmaking: “I started foraging willow from the roadside. Just like my father used to do it and just like many people before used to do it.”
His business model relies mostly on giving basketmaking courses: “The revival has been all about trying how to make them and rightfully so, giving our history with it. I’ll teach anyone who wants to learn.”
He teaches privately, at schools, Mens Sheds and Foróige clubs. And also since the start of the year, he has a course for International Protection Applicants: “I met some of them at my stall at Horkan’s that I had there at Christmas time. They asked me to visit them and I’ve been doing that for a while now.”


LEARNING THE TRADE Four Ukrainian women who Tom has been teaching to weave.

Different cultures
Approaching people open-heartedly seems to come naturally to Tom, learning from conversations with people from different cultures: “The refugees I’m giving basketmaking courses to are all from Ukraine. They love basketmaking because they have a history of it. Sometimes they weave with different materials, a different type of willow even. They use a willow with the bark stripped off it.”
Tom also sells his baskets, showing up at heritage days or markets. He is fascinated by the craft section in the Museum of Country Life in Turlough: “Always on the fringes of things, older traditions linger on. We are on the fringe of Europe and inside Ireland we in Mayo are on the fringe. It’s a repository of ancient things. basketmaking is one of them.”

•  Tom Delaney is active on social media at @ouldcrafty and is happy to teach basketmaking to anyone who has an interest. Visit his website www.ouldcrafty.com to find out more.