Buckagh Mountain

Buckagh Mountain Townland of Callowbrack

by Rose Anne Murray

There were twenty houses in that village, with lots of families living there and there were two hand-loom weavers in the village. That was in 1940. Edward Mulchrone and John Murray were both weavers. Blankets, tweed, flannels (which were for men's underwear) and bainin jackets were the order of the day. Edward Mulchrone wove the curtains for Burrishoole Lodge which was the home of Ernie O'Malley at that time. Rose Mulchrone (wife of Edward) got several prizes for her tweed which would be a suit length at shows in Castlebar. The women folk did the carding and spinning. In those days there would be a gathering of women to one house for the carding and spinning which they described as a camp, and on that night there would be a dance in that house. The tweed made would be seven yards for suit lengths. Mrs Rose Anne Murray of Kilbride, Newport and the Mulchrone weavers cottage was regularly visited by Mrs Margaret Connolly and her daughters to have their spun wool woven into tweed by Mr Mulchrone. "The Weaver Mulchrone" received many requests to give exhibitions in Dublin but declined to do so because he felt he could only do justice to his skills on his own cottage loom, which he knew intimately and for which he had an extra-sensitive "feel". He considered it too troublesome to transport the loom to Dublin - apart from the risk of damage to the loom in moving it! Mr Mulchrone did, however feature on a Radio Eireann documentary programme on Irish weavers.

Back in the 1940's, a Margaret Murray of Shramore specialised in using plants to dye her home-spun wool indigo blue and she had a special fleck put in the weft of the wool which was woven for her by Edward Mulchrone in Buckagh. What is not generally known is that a piece of her exclusive tweed is on exhibition at the National Museum in Dublin.

Some 50 years ago wool spinning and weaving was one of the few viable industries in Buckagh, Shramore and Shraloggy areas. It is ironic, perhaps, that at the time there was more motor traffic in the Buckagh area of twenty homes, than the now depopulated Buckagh because the weaving services of Edward Mulchrone were in such great demand. He wove woollen materials for rich and poor alike, including curtains for the homes of people like Ernie O'Malley of Burrishoole Lodge and the Stoneys of Rosturk Castle. Edward Mulchrone of Buckagh was renowned throughout Ireland for his brilliant craftsmanship and weaving skills. The late Mr Mulchrone was father of Rose Anne Murray.


1. Edward Mulchrone 7 in family
2. John Mulchrone 6 in family
3. Tom Mulchrone 2 in family
4. Mickey Moran 5 in family
5. Michael Gorman No family, bought by Pat Conroy 3 in family
6. Tom Morgan 1 in family
7. Tony Conway Came from Skerdagh
John Brice lived there
Tommy, his son lives there
8. Pat McFadden 5 in family
Bought by D. Murray
9. Michael Lavelle 4 in family
10. John Nolan 4 in family
11. Marleys 3 in family
12. Celia McNally 3 in family
13. Richard Brice 5 in family
14. Tom Kane 5 in family
15. John Murray (Weaver) 6 in family
16. Anthony Geraghty 8 in family
17. Jack Gorman Jack and Paddy (Brothers)
18. Bridget McGovern 4 in family
19. Pat ODonnell 7 in family