Uploaded September 2025 | Updated September 2026, 4 days ago
Here is a chat I recorded with Madge Collender back in August 2025. The chat centres around the dresser but then sparks memories about the people who owned it etc.
Madge rescued this from the home of two brothers named Hackett, who were her neighbours. It was originally painted, but she stripped the paint off herself one summer in a calf pen! It has a few distinctive features that are not common in Waterford — including the shoulders on the sides and the fixed plate laths.
Normally, these plate laths could be lifted in and out, whereas here they are built into the frame. Madge told me that all the local dressers were the same, and that the plates always leaned forward. You might also notice how the four large platters are placed lengthways on the dresser — which is also quite unusual.
This interview was recorded by Michael Fortune for The Irish Dresser Project and also The Irish Dresser and Folklore Calendar. You can find out more at www.thedresserproject.ie or www.folklore.ie
Here is a chat I recorded with Madge Collender back in August 2025. The chat centres around the dresser but then sparks memories about the people who owned it etc.
Madge rescued this from the home of two brothers named Hackett, who were her neighbours. It was originally painted, but she stripped the paint off herself one summer in a calf pen! It has a few distinctive features that are not common in Waterford — including the shoulders on the sides and the fixed plate laths.
Normally, these plate laths could be lifted in and out, whereas here they are built into the frame. Madge told me that all the local dressers were the same, and that the plates always leaned forward. You might also notice how the four large platters are placed lengthways on the dresser — which is also quite unusual.
This interview was recorded by Michael Fortune for The Irish Dresser Project and also The Irish Dresser and Folklore Calendar. You can find out more at www.thedresserproject.ie or www.folklore.ie
