Southeast Chapter IWG

The South East Chapter was setup at a meeting in the 'Munster Bar' in Waterford on Sept 25^th 1990. That meeting was organised by Tom Dunlop and Gordon Rose (RIP) and a copy of the meeting attendance record is reproduced here

 

At that meeting the following officers were elected - Chairman Tom Dunlop, Secretary Gordon Rose, and Treasurer Tom Larkin.

The first chapter workshop was held in Tom Dunlop's on the 17^th Nov 1990 followed by the second at Tom Larkin's in June 1991. After that, workshops were held on the 3rd Saturday of every month with the exception of August, without a single cancellation to-date. Locations of our monthly workshops varies, but are normally held in members workshops, with the host or a visiting demonstrator doing the honors. In recent years we have a permanent base in the Community Hall, Bennetsbridge, Co Kilkenny where we hold our monthly workshop.
In the early days of the chapter, we had members from Wexford, Waterford, Kilkenny Carlow, and Tipperary. Around 2000, the Waterford members formed the Waterford Chapter, but returned again in 2019.

For a small chapter with about 30 'active' members we have had some outstanding results at National competitions. Our first National winner was in 1993 when Kate Walsh from Wexford took the top prize with a beautiful set of vases. This is the only time in the Guild history that a lady member took top honors.

The next year Glen Lucas took the top prize, while Paddy Murphy took the honors at the 17th Annual Seminar in Gorey in 1998. Our members took a rest for a few years until 2009 when Glen Lucas again took top honors. In 2014 Brendan Hogg took the honors after finishing runner-up on numerous previous occasions.

Another member, Brendan Hogg gave his first demonstration at a Chapter workshop at George Wills's workshop in Inistioge in February 2000, and has not stopped since. He has won numerous awards at national and local seminars.

However, the highlight of our chapter's history must surely be the winning of the inaugural 'Chapter Challenge' at the 2008 National Seminar. For this, Paddy Murphy produced a stunning set of 35 boxes, all of which fit inside each other.. The chapter was again successful in the 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014 and 2015. Full details are available here.

Over the years, our chapter members have served on the Irish Woodturners Guild national committee with distinction. Gordon Rose, Tom Dunlop and Evan Petty have all served as officers over the years. Chapter members are also to the fore at attendance at our National Seminar with up to 50% of our chapter regularly attending.
The chapter has also hosted the National seminar in Kilkenny on three occasions - 1993, 1994 and 1995 - (another three in a row for Kilkenny and a first in the Guild history!!)

The South East Chapter annual exhibition and sale of members work at the Kilkenny Arts Festival must be the longest running annual exhibition of woodturning in Ireland. From humble beginnings in August 1991, this event has grown annually and is now recognized in the South East and by the many national and international visitors to the festival for its excellence, both in quality and range of woodturnings displayed

With a core group of about 35 members who attend workshops regularly and another 10 or so not so active members, the Southeast Chapter members are dedicated to helping each other achieve their maximum potential as woodturners. As well as that there is an immense camaraderie amongst our members and our workshops are as much a social outing as a learning experience.