Michael Corrigan, son of John Corrigan and Mary Kate Morgan, was born into a farming family of seven children in Knockadoon, near Fore, County Westmeath, in the midlands of Ireland, in 1929. In The Irish Blacksmith Michael describes the key role the local blacksmith played in the community when he was growing up in the 1930s and 1940s. This included shoeing horses, making and repairing everyday utensils, tools and gates. When Michael visited his maternal uncle’s forge, he greatly admired the skills the blacksmiths wielded in their work and this book is a tribute to them. The skills Michael witnessed and developed at this time no doubt also shaped his lifelong appreciation of work well-done and his desire and ability to repair all types of objects and machines himself.

It took Michael more than two years to compile all the photos of the blacksmiths’ forges and their work, notably gates, mostly in Westmeath and Meath. Even at the age of 90, Michael could be seen crossing fields, hills and ditches to capture photos that best reflected the blacksmiths’ craftsmanship and to ensure that it would be recognised and preserved for future generations.