Events

2 one-day workshops where Irish Heritage Trust volunteers and members of the public will be invited to learn the art of willow weaving with an experienced weaver. The focus of the workshop is to weave potato skibs, also called ciseogs. 

A potato skib or ciseog is a traditional, shallow, circular woven willow basket historically used for straining and holding boiled potatoes. Each home would have had one of these that would have been woven by the woman of the house using willow, which is plentiful in the Roscommon countryside. When potatoes were cooked and ready to be eaten they would have been taken outside and strained using the skib. The skib would then have been placed in the middle of the table or indeed, in the cases where there was no table, the skib itself would have performed that function. It represented a central, communal aspect of cottage life. Pictorial records from the early 1800’s show pictures of rural interiors with families feeding around a skib. When the skibs were not in use they were often hung on walls as decorative items.