Why a roof thatching workshop in Offaly might be the best day (or five) you book this year

There is a particular kind of satisfaction that only arrives when your hands are busy and the result is something you can see from the lane. Roof thatching is that kind of craft. It is old, practical, and oddly joyful — and in 2027 you can try it properly at Boglands Hideaway.

Boglands sits in Gorteen, Daingean, County Offaly: a private rustic hideaway better known for glamping yurts, group getaways and quiet canal-country mornings. It is also the home of a new series of hands-on thatching workshops run in association with Mike Davies of Thatching Ireland, with tools and materials supported by Thatching Tools Ireland.

What you actually do

These are not lectures with a thatch sample passed around the room. You work with water reed — Phragmites australis — the durable material Thatching Ireland uses across the country. Sessions cover both traditional and contemporary methods, on purpose-built practice roofs and selected real structures.

Formats are deliberately flexible, all typically running 10:00–16:00:

• A full day for a solid first taste of tools, materials and course-laying
• Two or three consecutive days for deeper immersion and an introduction to real structures
• Five consecutive days if you want the fullest introductory experience
• Dedicated thatch repair and ridge repair workshops for owners who would rather understand the roof over their own heads

You leave with a certificate of attendance. These are experiential workshops, not formal qualifications — which is exactly the point. They are relaxed, supportive and built for complete beginners and the simply curious. If you discover you want to go further, Ireland’s thatching world is small enough that a good first week matters.

The setting does half the work

Lunch is included on every course. Tea, coffee, water and snacks are there whenever you want them (mention dietary needs when you book). Gloves and other necessary PPE are provided; bring safety shoes if you have them and clothes that can meet an Irish breeze. Parking is free, toilets are on site, and multi-day guests can ask about accommodation at the hideaway.

Before you arrive, the free online modules at learn.boglands.ie are worth doing so the day on the roof is spent thatching, not decoding vocabulary.

A little context helps the enjoyment. Water reed sheds rain because the stems themselves are built to do it; layered thick enough, a thatched roof is warm, quiet and long-lived — often 20–30 years for the main coat in Irish conditions, with the ridge renewed more often. From harvest to finished roof it stores carbon and asks very little of quarries or kilns. Standing under one you have just helped shape makes that less of a fact and more of a feeling.

Dates, booking, and the small print that is actually useful

Current listed dates include one-day options in April, May and June 2027, two-day blocks across the same months, a thatch repair day on 6 June 2027, a ridge repair day on 7 June 2027, and a five-day workshop from 5–9 July 2027. More dates are expected. Prices vary with date and inclusions — materials are costly and training involves real wastage — so the booking page is the source of truth.

Workshops are adults only (18+), in line with Boglands Hideaway’s policy. You can pay by card, bank transfer or Bitcoin.

Book here: https://bog.ie/book/thatching-workshops/
Read the workshop notes: https://thatch.boglands.ie/workshops/
Meet the thatcher: https://thatchingireland.com
See the tools: https://thatchingtools.ie
Stay on if you want the full hideaway: https://boglands.ie

If you have ever slowed down for a thatched cottage and thought, “How does that even stay up?” — this is the cheerful, muddy, well-fed way to find out. Places are limited. The reed will not thatch itself.