When Clare automation engineer Brian McMahon packed in his factory job to become a chairmaker specialising in the Irish vernacular furniture style, his decision was met with some bewilderment.

However, for McMahon who grew up on the outskirts of Ennis, it was the right move. He had picked up woodwork in his spare time to make things for around the house and enjoyed the process.

"Around two years ago I did a weekend workshop with a chairmaker in Clare on country chairmaking. He was retiring and said there was a demand there and very few chairmakers left in the country," the Clare man said.

"I had been interested in making furniture for a few years but it wasn't until I did the workshop that I really found that chairmaking suited me.

"There's a lot more variety in chairmaking that I don't think you have with other kinds of furniture. I could be turning one day, weaving the next, and carving a saddle in a seat board the day after that.

"At the time I was looking for a way out of factory work and into something more fulfilling, and I saw this as an opportunity to get out on my own," he explained.

A year later McMahon moved out to a cottage in Inagh with sheds and a haybarn out the back and started setting up a workshop.

"By October 2024 I had a handful of chair and stool designs I was happy with and started promoting the pieces. I’ve been working at it full-time since then. The work is done predominantly by hand, using traditional methods," he said.

"Business has been going great. Because the furniture is traditional, you get a lot of stories from people who remembered similar milking stools or súgán chairs from their childhood.

"There’s a demand for genuine locally made craftwork in the country, so it’s been a great experience getting out there with my furniture and meeting other craftspeople and customers alike," the Clare man said.

"The chairs and stools I make follow traditional styles found in farmhouses and cottages around Ireland. All the furniture is made using traditional joinery and finished using hand tools," he explained.

"The timber I use is Irish and mostly native, with the inclusion of beech, chestnut, and sycamore."

The súgán - or straw rope chair, is a country favourite, and is made with ash and woven using a natural seagrass rope. McMahon has found it to be his most popular chair.

"It’s a comfortable chair and it’s traditional to Ireland so I think people like being part of the tradition" McMahon said.

McMahon's other chairs include the fireside stool, a low stool for getting close to the fire featuring a woven seagrass and turned ash legs, that sits 14in off the ground, and the milking stool, a short, sturdy and stable stool that sits 12in off the ground with an 11in diameter seat.

Depending on the type of chair, it can take two to three days to make a chair. Prices range from €90 for the smallest stool to €450 for the more ornate country chairs. Customers are from all around the country.

"I haven't shipped overseas yet but I've had a few enquiries on sending chairs to people who have emigrated," the Clare man said.

His plans for the future are to make more chairs and expand the range.

"I’ve also started milling trees to get a more consistent supply of timber for the furniture I make. In exchange for trees I’ve been able to offer people furniture made with the timber from their land which I think is nice to have," he said.

"Storm Éowyn brought a lot of mature trees down, so it saves them from being turned into firewood."