Search
17 Oct 2025
Search
17 Oct 2025
Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content.
Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist.
If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter .
Support our mission and join our community now.
To continue reading this article, you can subscribe for as little as €0.50 per week which will also give you access to all of our premium content and archived articles!
Alternatively, you can pay €0.50 per article, capped at €1 per day.
Thank you for supporting Ireland's best local journalism!
Heritage thatching in at Sheeran's Coolrain.
People from all over Ireland and foreign shores gathered in Coolrain to experience the dying art of thatching during the recent Heritage Week.
Lar Hogan, owner of Sheeran’s Pub, Coolrain, invited locals and visitors to come see master thatchers John and Paul Breherton of Breherton Family Thatchers explain and demonstrate the wonderful craft using oaten straw grown on the farm of Trevor Holden in Athy.
The straw was stripped using a stripper head harvester and then trashed and bound into round bales. The thatcher’s then pulled the straw into 117,000 small bundles to reroof the landmark pub.
“It is a community pub for the community and it was great to see everyone help out,” said Lar.
Sheeran’s Pub Coolrain is a listed and protected building and so was awarded a grant from Laois Heritage. The project cost €32,900 of which was a €6,000 conservation grant scheme and €5,000 from Laois Heritage with the rest from personal money.
Read also: LAOIS TOWN PREPARES TO WELCOME REFUGEES
Subscribe or register today to discover more from DonegalLive.ie
Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.
Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.
This publication supports the work of the Press Council of Ireland and Office of the Press Ombudsman, and our staff operate within the Code of Practice of the Press Council. You can obtain a copy of the Code, or contact the Council, at www.presscouncil.ie, Lo-call 1800 208 080 or email: info@presscouncil.ie.
