When the National Museum's new folklife division opens in Turlough Park House just outside Castlebar, Co Mayo, next year, part of the display will bear the hallmark of the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology. Settle beds, hen coops and a 19th century cradle from the Aran Islands are among the pieces being assessed for restoration at its furniture college in Letterfrack, Co Galway.
Established in 1987 as a joint initiative between Connemara West, a community and rural development company, and the institute, the furniture college has just under 100 students registered on three courses. A new conservation and restoration centre, which is due to open next month, has been funded by Enterprise Ireland and the Department of Arts, Heritage, the Gaeltacht and the Islands.
Currently, the college offers three courses - a national certificate in furniture design and manufacture, furniture production, and a bachelor of science degree in furniture technology. While academic responsibility lies with the institute of technology, the courses are jointly managed and run with the Connemara West Centre in Letterfrack as an educational partnership.
Most of the students come straight from school, but 10 to 15 per cent of places are reserved for mature students, according to its director, Mr Kieran O'Donohue. One of his recent mature students was a 69-yearold cabinetmaker who had worked all his life, and decided to return and study design.
Every year, the college exhibits its craft, and this year's display runs for another week at the centre in the Quaker village. It includes work from the two-year certificate course in furniture design and manufacture, including library chair prototypes, mirrors, coffee tables, key storage cabinets, chessboards, a relief carving and smaller items.
The wood-machining skills of the furniture production course are also on show, including clocks, mirrors, chairs, coffee tables, wine racks, jewellery boxes, candle clusters, breadboards and trays. Then there is the theoretical aspect to the BSc degree course - with exhibits including an innovative design for a fitted kitchen; the application of cellular manufacturing techniques to modular furniture, and a demonstration of e-commerce possibilities for a small furniture company or retailer.
Irish timbers, manufactured boards and plywood are used where possible, according to Mr O'Donohue, and several of the pieces also include metal, glass, upholstery or other materials. Apart from Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology and Connemara West backing, the college also receives substantial support from the EU, through the Operational Programme for Agriculture, Rural Development and Forestry.
Letterfrack 2000, as the exhibition is called, runs until this Friday from 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. - 5 p.m. Admission is free.