Irish Clay Pipe Making, County Roscommon, Ireland

Ethel Kelly shows us how to make clay pipes at her Claypipe Centre in the village of Knockcroghery in County Roscommon, Ireland. The village has been producing pipes for 300 years and in the late 1800’s virtually the entire village was involved in their manufacturing. The Knockcroghery claypipe was smoked extensively throughout Ireland by both men and women. They were particularly popular at wakes where trays of tobacco-filled pipes were laid out for the mourners. Traditionally they would be broken after th