Remembering the last blacksmith in Ballyhaunis
By Tom Gillespie
THE last working blacksmith's forge around Ballyhaunis was that operated by Michael ‘Brod’ Boyle in Ballinphuill, less than a mile from the town, on the Dublin Road.
It has been closed for some years now, but for many years it was both a hive of industry and a meeting place, where the sounds of yarn-telling and friendly banter punctuated the roar of the fire, the wheeze of the bellows and the ringing of hammer upon metal.
In the 1992 Ballyhaunis Annagh magazine Brod related his story, as told to his daughter, Mrs. Mary Donnelly:
They tell me the blacksmith's trade is one of the oldest trades around. My knowledge of it begins with the stories my father, Austin, who told me of how he started off in the business. I do not know what age he was but somehow the decision was made that he would serve his time to the trade.
He started off in the local forge nearby with a man called Hopkins, and went from there to Quinn’s in Gorthaganny.
After a certain time there he went to Manorhamilton, Co. Leitrim, to finish off his apprenticeship, where he managed to save five pounds.
He then set out walking home with the five pound note intact, built the forge and set up on his own.
My memories as a blacksmith go back about 70 years, to the time I began to take an interest in the work my father did in the forge.
Sometimes when he would be gone to town, I used to take a coal from the fire in the kitchen and sneak up to the forge, light the fire and have a go at making 'S' hooks for chains or gudgeons (axles) for wheelbarrows.
I left school at about 14 years of age and began my own career as a blacksmith. My father was an excellent tradesman and was very happy to pass on his skills to me.
For my part, I was an eager student and we worked well together for 20 years up to the time of his death in 1946. He was never too hard on me though and gradually over the years he ‘passed the reins' over to me.
The forge was always a busy place, the changing seasons brought in different types of work. In spring the horses had to be shod and machinery prepared for the farm work of cultivating the land and mowing the crops.
I used to make new socks and coulters for ploughs, repair grubbers, point harrow pins and drive them into the harrows, and make and repair scuffles. The plough was used for turning up the sod, the grugger was used for preparing the ploughed field for sowing the seed, the harrow was used to cover the seed so the birds would not eat it and the scuffle was used to stop the growth of weeds between drills of potatoes.
In summer I used to fit new sections into the blades in mowing machines, repair shafts of carts and other machines, make axles for carts, yoke scythes and fit durneens to the handles.
I also made double and single gates for the fronts of houses when they came into fashion.
Horse shoeing went on nearly all the year because the horse would be shod four times in the year. Shoeing the horse required skill, strength and courage, although in my hey-day it never cost me a thought.
Holding the hammer in one hand, the nail in the other and the horse's foot resting on my knees, there was not a lot I could do to defend myself if a horse got awkward or frightened.
The young horses would be more flighty, they would be shod for the first time at a year-and-a-half and not handled very much up to then.
The working horses were easier to manage, although there would be the odd kicker. I shod all breeds and sizes from filly or colt, pony, Irish draught, Clydesdale and stallion.
Donkeys and mules were brought to the forge, too. Donkeys mostly had their hooves clipped, the odd one would be shod. Mules were shod and were always awkward to handle.
The shoes were made in different sizes and weights, heavier ones for the working horse and lighter ones for ponies. Nails came in four sizes and steel studs were fitted to the shoes for grip on frosty roads in winter time. I used to make a lot of the shoes during the winter and have them ready for when they were wanted.
I would buy the iron in bars, measure and cut it into different sizes, then shape the shoes, punch the holes, and have a fine stock hanging on a bar along the wall.
In later years the shoes came ready-made so that cut down a bit of my work.
I often treated horses for blood poisoning or injury or infection in their feet. I used to make up a special cure for them and it always worked.
Shoeing wheels of carts was done usually in summer before the turf would be brought home from the bog. It was always a team effort, the men whose wheels were for shoeing were always on hand to help, and they often brought along some turf for the fire. It was done maybe one day in the week or whenever I had roughly 20 wheels in. Before the shoeing day I would have bought the iron in bars, cut it to suit the measure of the wheels, coded each piece and welded it together. Measuring was very important, the tyre had to be so much smaller than the wheel. Then on the day I used to light a big fire outside and when it was well kindled I would form a circle with it, drop the tyres down on it and build up the hot coals and more turf all around. There would be several tyres in the fire together, depending on their size. After a couple of hours in the fire they were ready and then the work started.
I used a forge tongs to lift the tyre out of the fire. The wheel would be in place on the shoeing stone and the tyre was dropped down on the wheel and hammered into place with the sledge.
My helpers used dogs (keys) to hold the tyre in place, while I hammered it on. Another man would have a bucket of water on hand to quench the wheel if it caught fire. The work was fast and furious until the tyre was in place. Then the wheel would be spun around in the dipping trough to cool it. This was a long and hard day's work and we were always glad to see my wife, Peg, coming with the jug of tea and the fresh bread.
The tools and equipment in the forge has changed a lot in my time as a blacksmith, and so, too, has the work.
The tractor took the place of the horse on the farm until, eventually, there was no horses to be shod. But even so I was not idle, I turned my hand to hay-shed work, making gates, cattle grids, water keys and whatever came along.
We had a lot of fun for small money. Tourists dropped in very often to see the work and take photographs, and they always wanted a horseshoe to take back to their own country for good luck.
I will finish with a story that is told about a man who took his horse to the blacksmith to have him shod.
Instead of paying the going rate for the job, the man tried to make a bargain with the blacksmith. And the bargain was that he would pay for every nail he drove, a half-penny for the first, a penny for the second, tuppence for the third, and so on, doubling the money for every nail.
Each shoe takes seven nails and I will leave it to yourself to work out how much that set of shoes cost in old money.
The story goes that the blacksmith would not agree to the deal, which goes to show that he either was not greedy for money or he had no eye for a bargain.