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SARA MURPHY The (Multi-Disciplinary) Carpenter “I
’ve always loved making things. I grew up around interesting design – there’s a load of architects in the family. I used to fix all my friends’ toys, and my parents were great in showing us practical skills: if they were ever decorating the house we’d be shown how to paint a room properly, and taught how to wire plugs from mid primary-school age onwards. I’ll jump at the chance to learn any craft, whether that’s crocheting or chainsaw sculpturing. “As a teenager, I really struggled with Ireland’s degree culture. If you’re in any way academically inclined, you’re expected to go to college, and there’s not really a structure outside of that. I was doing well in school, but since there was nothing that I wanted to study afterwards – though I would later complete a post-grad in events management – I didn’t see the point of putting yourself under this horrific pressure [of the Leaving Cert], with no motivation to aim for a particular thing. So I dropped out, and I found that I was free-floating. I had moved to Edinburgh with my family when I was younger, and attended a state school with incredible facilities. They ran a course called CDT (Craft, Design and Technology) in a building dedicated to workshops; it was so well-equipped. Once back in Ireland, I discovered the standards of school woodworking weren’t half as good. “After I dropped out, I announced that what I really wanted to do was furniture which, luckily, my parents were supportive of. I set out to find all the furniture makers in Ireland, which I achieved through a database in the Powerscourt Townhouse Centre – I made a top-ten list, went home and phoned them. I went down to see Michael Bell [Zelouf and Bell], and after a trial he took me on for six months: he had a female apprentice when I started with him which was really unusual to see, especially in the late ‘90s. She was an incredible craftswoman. “I then went back to Edinburgh for a few years and was running nightclubs there, doing the decor and so on. While in Scotland I completed three more years of apprenticeship and gained a HDip in Furniture Production and Design. I’ve been combining events with making since then: I’ve gone back and forth between the two professions, and now I’ve settled on carpentry. I definitely draw from my experience in events when on festival jobs [Electric Picnic, Glastonbury]. I have been taking all sorts of commissions to figure out which I like most – sash windows, rebuilding an 19th century barn roof in Wales (the first job I was a foreperson on), bespoke design and installs of fitted furniture to name a few – and I have gotten particular satisfaction from directing the build at Open Ear Festival for the past three years. I created the stage backdrop using CNC machines last year, which was my biggest digital fabrication project to date. “One of my friends posted on Facebook that a woman called Jen was looking for Irish tradeswomen for some project, and they put us in touch. We met in a cafe around the corner from my house and she told me what her plans were for WITNI, which sounded great. Honestly, I was so normalised to being the only woman in my line of work that I thought I was just fine, and didn’t necessarily feel the need for I was so normalised to being the only woman in my line of work that I thought I was just fine. a network. Still, I was up for doing anything I could to support WITNI and, six months later, the first meet-up took place: I couldn’t believe the feeling of camaraderie, support and power I drew from it. Finally, I could relay experiences that I knew the other women would understand, from their first-hand experiences. “Since WITNI started, it’s spurred me on risk-averse: the data that’s come back from countries with more women on job sites proves that, when you have more women working, there are less accidents and mistakes. So, we both have our qualities which we excel in. “I’m quite lucky when it comes to finding to have deeper conversations about women in trades than I would’ve done previously. Outside of the network, I’ve always had to explain why I’ve chosen this job, even though the reasons are no different to those of men. There needs to be many more females on the job sites, so people understand the benefits of a gender-balanced workspace. The ‘issue’ that’s often cited is strength but, generally speaking, men don’t use the upper level of their strength in work these days. The standard weight limits are well within what women can lift, and we have higher endurance than men; an equally useful attribute during a long day on-site. Women are also more workwear that fits, because of my body shape, but I’ve come across companies that are amazing to tradeswomen. Snickers have recently been developing a new range of women’s workwear, and I have one of their waterproof shell jackets – it’s exceptionally comfortable and hard-wearing. Outside of Ireland, I have lovely work trousers from Dassy, an American brand, and I’ve found the coolest womens workwear from a Swedish company called Fristad Kansas. I’ve got a hotpink, workwear mini skirt from them: it has proper stitching, proper heavy-cotton twill, outside pockets… while they have ‘normal’ shades available, their womens range also comes in sky blues, lime greens and fluorescent yellows. If you want colourful, you can have colourful!” ● 30