About Claudia
Claudia Kinmonth
Kinmonth's latest book, Irish Country Furniture and Furnishings 1700 - 2000 (Cork University Press), has 450 illustrations (the majority in colour, taken by the author) and 575 pages. It moves on substantially from her book, Irish Country Furniture 1700-1950, which won awards and was followed by Irish Rural Interiors in Art (both published by Yale University Press, 1993 & 2006). These publications spurred her exhibitions of Irish genre paintings, with furniture, in for example Cork’s Crawford Gallery (2006), Dublin’s National Gallery (2007) & The McMullen Museum of Art, Boston College (2012). Her Moore Institute Research Fellowship at the National University of Ireland, Galway, facilitated ground-breaking research on Noggins (traditional wooden vessels for eating and drinking), and horn spoons. Her work on Noggins won the Paul Johnston 2016 Essay award (€1,000). She has worked at London’s Victoria & Albert Museum, and the Sir John Soane’s Museum. She is currently Research Curator (Domestic Life) at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum. Cork Public Museum employs her as Conservation Consultant, work she also does for Cork Butter Museum. In 2018 she received the Royal Dublin Society’s Crafts Bursary, in their Library and Archives, resulted in her article, Rags, Riches and Recycling. The same year, she was the first independent scholar to be elected a Member of the Royal Irish Academy. She lectures widely and broadcasts for television, film and radio.
Fieldwork from 1989
During my research for my first book, I spent nearly five years tracking down vernacular furniture within original farmhouses.
During my research for my first book, I spent nearly five years tracking down vernacular furniture within original farmhouses.
Here I am with Christopher Sullivan (1926-1998) who was one of the last vernacular makers to produce súgán chairs. I visited him often to discuss his work as a súgán chair maker. He was one of the last to work like this, unselfconsciously in the true vernacular tradition. He even grew his own oat straw for making the seats. After he passed away I published an article about the work that he did making chairs and baskets, called 'Oat, Ash and Osiers...'