Michael Haugh - Clonakilla

Michael Haugh from Clonakilla registered at Lack School in 1937. He qualifies for this section of the history on two counts − his extensive travels in his early years and his achievement in the field of decorative plasterwork.

He first served his time as a carpenter with the legendary Martie Breen of Lissycasey. Later he became a plasterer, a trade that he has practised throughout his life, specialising in decorative ceilings. He was introduced to this skill in the 1960s and has practised it since. He has become the local Michelangelo because of the amount of time he has spent decorating ceilings with his various designs set in hardwall plaster.

In a ten-year period to 1963, he worked as a plasterer in four continents − Europe (London), Australia, South Africa and America (New York) − returning briefly in 1954 to build a new house to replace the old family residence. While travel is now common, we must bear in mind that it was quite limited at that time. For example, his first experience of travel by air occurred when he travelled from London to South Africa on a chartered flight. It landed at the following airports − Brussels (Belgium), Cologne (Germany), Rome (Italy), Benghazi (Libya), Khartoum (Sudan), Mombassa (Kenya) and Lourenza Marques (Mozambique), where the flight terminated. The remainder of the journey was undertaken by train. The journey took 14 days and cost £80. Air travel had much improved two years later when he flew from Johannesburg to New York by Pan American Airways, stopping over only at Brazzaville (Congo) and Santa Maria in the Azores.

He spent roughly an equal period in each continent, never experiencing any difficulty in securing work, visiting all places of interest and returning home for regular holidays, where he fascinated his many admirers with his tales from faraway places.

Sun dial

He returned home in the early 1960s and resided at his home in Clonakilla until his death in 2009 at 79 years of age. In semi-retirement, he built sun dials as a hobby. He always had a fascination with the geometry of the face of the sun dial. Again, the quality of his work was reflected in the length of the waiting lists for his handmade product. As he was laid to rest, the consensus among the locals was that this man was a legend. The parish had never seen his like before, and it is unlikely they will see it again.