Irish sugan chair

An Irish sugan chair, made to order, from Ash with a seagrass cord seat woven in he traditional West of Ireland style.

Sugan (more properly súgán) is just a word for a hand-twisted rope made from a variety of materials, oat straw, the best but hay was widely used. More recently, manufactured laid cords like sisal have been used. Sisal is not the best because it tends to stretch with use.

Seagrass rope is made of all-natural seagrass that grows in saltwater bogs or marshes. The grass is dried, then woven together into cords, then the cords are braided into a rope. Completely Natural! No Dyes, Glues, or Hidden Nasty Ingredients.  These ancient ropes are incredibly strong.

When I moved to the village of Cree in West Clare, one of the first things I did was to make a chair in the local style.

That was thirty years ago and since then I’ve made hundreds of these, some with arms but mostly just plain back chairs.

The wedged through mortises give great strength and the seagrass is the best I’ve found for comfort, looks and longevity.

The historical background and context of this style is well documented by Claudia Kinmonth, author of Irish Country Furniture and Furnishings 1700 – 2000

Back in the 1990s Irish sugan chairs were plentiful, especially in the older houses. As money appeared at the turn of the twenty-first century, they disappeared and when the boom came, many were stripped of original paint and flogged on in poor structural condition.

Over the years, I’ve mended plenty that have been abandoned to outhouses, to be rediscovered by the next generation. The legs tend to get worn badly from being on rough, often damp flagstone floors but the worst fault is badly bent or broken seat spindles. Replacing the spindles, requires, dismantling, making new parts and re-building.

This isn’t the only sort of chair I make but I’ve definitely made more of this type than all the other country chairs together.

Buy one made up or make one at my workshop in a two day country chair making course