What is an Orthopaedic Chair?

What is an Orthopaedic Chair?

If the truth were told all of us are creatures of habit and if a survey were taken I’m willing to bet that a great number of us have a favourite place to occupy within the home, church, or hall and within this space is a favourite seat or chair. The chair photographed here is that of Judge Richard Jebb; it was from this seat in the Spring Assizes, March, 1820, at Limerick Courthouse that he sentenced John Scanlan, to be hanged for the murder of the Colleen Bawn, on the Shannon: An important chair, occupying an important space, and more importantly giving comfort and ease to the learned judge in his role in the administration of justice.

I was close to home after a brisk constitutional walk on one of those rare bright sunny mornings in winter, when suddenly the sky darkened and a deep shadow descended. Before me blocking my path stood a man of great stature – a giant of a man.

“Aren’t you the lucky man to have met me today” - was how he greeted me. “I’m going out of business and I have a beautiful, quality, leather suite that I’m practically giving away.”

From years of experience I have learned that the “modus operandi” of these travelling salesmen is to counter ones every move to avoid purchasing their ‘must have’ product. And despite this, we are quite often left holding an item that you wonder what possible use you can put it to within minutes of the salesman’s departure.

I’m sorry, I said; I purchased a beautiful quality leather suite some years ago and I have no room for two of them.

Where! He asked.

What do you mean, where? I countered.

“Where did you buy this quality leather suite?”

It was purchased in Casey’s at Raheen, said I, without hesitation.

As quickly as it had descended the shadow lifted; the sun shone again and I was free to continue my journey, while at the same time congratulating myself that I was not left trying to lug a quality leather suite back to my home. I was about to enter the footpath that leads to my front door, when a voice from nowhere shouted: “Hello Sir! Can I interest you in a lovely quality leather suite?”

I was shortly to be joined by a stocky guy; the owner of the voice; and one whom I judged to be about my own age that is to say;- going on elderly. I concluded by the ‘cut of his jib’ and confident demeanour that I had here a client of greater determination to offload than that of his bulkier companion I had encountered earlier. I met your brother earlier: Was how I opened my defence.

“What brother? I’ve no brother,” he replied.

Are there two of you selling quality leather suites? I asked.

“It’s a gorgeous piece and you won’t be disappointed at the price – take a look at it anyway.”

No! I said, I’ve no room for it. He guessed that I had actually been the recipient of an earlier effort to offload by his companion and changed tack.

“I have a lovely chair and you can put it anywhere in the house; it’s made for you.” Was the follow up approach? I felt it was now time to end this conversation and decided to volunteer more information as to why I could not contemplate the purchase of any items of furniture at this time. ‘When I retired from work some years ago I completely refurbished the house – in fact I’m waiting on a skip to rid myself of some of the old discarded stuff out the back.’ This declaration I thought would surely end the conversation.

“Would there be an old ‘dresser’ in it by any chance? – I’ll take it off your hands.”

No dresser, I replied, but there is an old broken-down vacuum cleaner that I can let you have.

“Who would want a broken-down vacuum cleaner?”

I don’t know, I said, but in the right situation it could pass for a nice ornament?

“Come on, he said, you’ll buy the orthopaedic chair from me – it’s made for you?”

The reader will be aware that the chair has now entered a new classification, in that it is described as orthopaedic. Having never heard of, and with no knowledge at all that such a chair existed, I felt for the first time in this whole episode that I was beginning to lose control and somewhat out of my depth. Furthermore, somewhere deep in the recesses of my brain I was not at all comfortable with the word “orthopaedic.”

Would you say I’m a candidate for one of these chairs, I asked him.

“You’d never know;” was his reply.

To strengthen my case and partly convince myself that I was not in need of such a chair or likely to need one in the near future, I resorted to a little exaggeration. ‘I’ll have you know that I have just completed a six mile walk in little over an hour.’ I told him.

“Oh! You’ll be looking for a young one of around thirty so!”

Well my God; I thought; to what lengths will this fellow go to make a sale. Moreover, he must know from my appearance and age that I could hardly keep the woman in food not to mention maintenance. Am I to assume you are speaking from personal experience? I asked with interest.

At that he turned on his heel and made a dash for a white van parked on the far side of the road. “Have you got her in the van?” I shouted, as he slammed the door and drove off without belting up.

Now! I’ve heard of hall chairs, dining room chairs, kitchen chairs, but what (and the purpose of this post) is: AN ORTHOPAEDIC CHAIR?

This is Danny’s Quaint Ireland. It is Cóipcheart © Cois Má 2010

Manister History Project 2000

An Introduction to Axe-Manister (Below)



Manister parish is situated to the east of the town of Croom, that is close enough to the centre of county Limerick. It would be fair to say that it has struggled over the years to keep its identity as autonomous and equal to other parishes in the county. I have had occasion recently to check out the listed buildings contained in the ”Limerick County Development Plan” and of many listed within the parish, only one is deemed to be located in Manister and even then it is shown as Monasternenagh – there is no reference anywhere to Manister or Monaster. It is a small parish undoubtedly, but this is no reason to ignore its existence.
Early in 2000 a likeminded group got together for the purpose of documenting a history of the parish with the intention of presenting it in book form to the “church” for its jubilee year. At first glance it would appear that this was going to be a simple enough proposition as getting around this small parish was no big deal and we had all summer to do it. The jewel in the crown for this historical group as they set out was of course the Cistercian Abbey, founded here in 1148 by Turlough O’Brien, King of Munster, and if there was no more than this extensive ruin from whence Manister got its name to write about, surely, this was reason enough to embark on the project.
As we raced to the close of 2000 and yet more and more historical subjects coming to attention, pre Christian monuments; social upheavals; early Christian settlements, together with many others, some “more recent” shall we say, but of no less interest for those of us who seek knowledge of our own place. After some late nights and a hasty bundling of the material, and with a sigh of relief, it was handed over to the printer with instructions to get the whip out to meet our deadline. And while we admired some beautifully reproduced photographs, lovely text etc., the duplication and missed pages were never going to be a runner. With the disappointment of missing the deadline after a year’s hard work, there was one consolation; we had a glimpse of what was possible and we had a new whole year to do it!


The decade has now passed into history and the book is still in the making. We must be the only history group ever that met regularly for the first year of its existence and hasn’t met at all in the intervening ten years; well, not formally anyway. We do on occasion meet at funerals. For the impatient who wish to see the book, it is a bit of a nuisance but on the positive side, there is always that little bit of additional information to add to what is now a very large volume of work. If you were in discussion with someone like me who was retired when this project began and introduced the subject to them, you may well be greeted with a vacant expression and the query; “what history book?"
To be involved in this project was and still is exciting, not only for the reminder of what a rich heritage we have all about us, but what is of particular satisfaction to me and comes about largely because of being born and raised in this place and armed with the intimate knowledge of the terrain here and the experience of other investigators in similar circumstances and places, we have been able to unearth previously undocumented information in respect of our ancient and not so ancient past in Manister.
Can all this gathering of information over more than a decade be lost to the wider public? Well of course it can, and certainly so if it were to remain in jotters, copybooks, and computers even. History is made every day, and those of us that document it are history tomorrow!
If the outcome of all this data gathering is to end with the publication of a book, then the material has to be retained and jealously guarded to bring about the desired result – there is to be no drip feeding, and this has largely been the position over the past ten years – until now that is. I have decided to break with tradition and produce one item; one of very many, but one that will show how we went about our business; how we were able to resolve important and difficult issues and bring them to a satisfactory conclusion.
In posting this introductory piece to the “history item” below, it is my wish that everything will go according to plan. With this “introduction” I plan to publish a very beautiful photograph taken at Rathmore in the summer of 2000, it is of an ancient fort surrounded by bales of hay, with the Galtee Mountains in the background. I will now have to have a further look at the historical piece and see if I can post it after all?
This is Danny’s Quaint Ireland and it is Cóipcheart © Cois Má 2010

Manister Axe

AXE it: AXE it we did!

We were but some months into the research, collecting and collating all things historical connected with the parish of Manister. When on a Tuesday night we met as a group at the community centre as was our custom at the time to discuss the programme to be pursued for the week ahead.
We had just about commenced the meeting when one of the members asked those present to close their eyes, as he was about to unveil a surprise out of a little leather satchel that he had by his side. On such occasions previously there had been odd photographs, bits of writings, old maps etc. This is `primary` material, folks, he said, as we were instructed to open the eyelids once more.
There on the tabletop before us was the most magnificent `stone axe` that anyone present had ever seen. To be truthful, we all stared in awe and wonderment for some minutes before one of the group got back enough breath to ask – where in the name of God did you get it? While another asked – what is it? What is it! - said the holder of our treasure, what is it, but quite possibly the most significant find since the discovery of the `Tory Hill gold collar` and that’s a world-class artifact.
After everyone had handled and thoroughly scrutinized the object all were in agreement that this was a real work of art. One thing was for certain, - there was no one present whose father had one from the old days, or whose grandfather had a couple up the chimneybreast. There was one further observation by one of the group however, and it was, - ` whoever owned it didn’t do much with it? ` No sign of bloodstains, pieces of scalp or anything of that nature adhering, is how we understood his comment.

Come on, don’t keep us in suspense – where did you get it, was the general cry after the preliminaries were over. Was it found in the parish?
To keep the anonymity of the owner intact the object came by circuitous route to the member of our group and it was essential that it would return to the safe keeping of its owner in the same manner it had arrived; - it had after all been under cover for a very long time.
The stone axe didn’t just come in a little leather bag, no, accompanying it came the following story. It appears that some time in or around the mid nineteen twenties an ancestor of the present owner was ploughing a field with a pair of horses, this being close by to an ancient site in the parish of Manister, when up turned (unearth) the beautiful stone axe now before us. So mesmerized and dumfounded was the discoverer and owner of the field by the significance of the object he had uncovered, that he ceased ploughing and from that day right up to the present, the field has not been ploughed.

After further discussion we were unanimous, that if nothing else were to come of our history exploits in the parish, this find alone was a major discovery for the group. But how now were we to get over `tricky` hurdles on our way to glory. None among us was acquainted with the present law of the `State` in respect of the discovery of stone axes, not withstanding the fact that it had been found more than 70 years previously, and no matter how `civic minded;` our obligation had to be its safe return to its owner; our reputation as unhindered traversers of the local countryside depended on it. How then were we to get our information without producing the goods?
It was decided that your scribe could be trusted to take the object home with him where photographs could be taken and perhaps some discrete inquiries made before it (the axe) beat a hasty retreat by the circuitous route back from whence it came.

Although late into the night when I returned home, temptation got the better of me when I phoned a fellow Manister man and asked him if he could call round as I had something important to show him. It must be important at this hour of the night came back the terse reply. I had our stone axe resting on a white tablecloth (for better impact) when he arrived. Having been ushered in to the special space where he immediately observed our piece-de-resistance, there followed a long silence.
Where did it come from, was the first remark, having rolled the object round in his hands for quite some time, and obviously impressed by what he has seen and felt. To take the incredulous look off his face, I blurted out; `I made it. ` Ah, feck off, was the reply. This helped to remove the tension and thereafter went on to discuss all possibilities. Do you realize I said that the man who carried this object in his belt might be strutting around Manister as far back as 7,000 years ago when it is said that man first set foot on this little island of ours." I wouldn’t care to have it fall on my toe," was the follow up remark from my visitor.

No time was lost in photographing, measuring, and weighing the object and having discussed with likeminded enthusiasts of matters historical it was decided to make contact with Mr. Denis Power, of the `National Monuments Depot` Mallow Co Cork, who although limited to photographic, and written description of the object, agreed to make inquiries on our behalf.
Hereunder are the questions posed by our group?

“As can be seen from the photographs the object is without blemish, it is 5 inches in length, it is 2 inches in width and is 2 lb in weight.
For obvious reasons it is most important that as full and comprehensive description as possible on this object be conveyed to us.

(1) Can you for example give us an exact description of what this object is and for what purpose it might be used?
(2) What type of stone was it made from, is it local, or was it perhaps imported into the locality from some other part of Ireland.
(3) How was the handle attached?
(4) From its description can a period in time for its use be given and can this be reasonably accurate.
(5) Have there been many of the type found in Ireland previously, are there others in County Limerick.
(6) In your opinion, - is this a significant find in archaeological terms and if so perhaps you can state why this is so.

Any additional information on this subject that you consider relevant will of course be received with much gratitude and with your approval have it included in our parish history.
Thanking you for your help in this matter.

Yours sincerely,

While awaiting a reply to the above I took the opportunity of visiting `The National Museum` Dublin, where there is on display a range of `Stone Age` implements. And although many and varied, there was nothing like our Manister axe. The nearest in mineral composition, viewed through a glass case, and more of a hatchet than an axe, came from the north of Ireland. Yes! We really had something important on our hands no doubt.
At about two weeks on from the inquiry above I took the opportunity of phoning Mr. Power at his Mallow office in the hope of some progress being made and to be honest, there was a restless and eager anticipation of an announcement of monumental proportions on my part. What will be revealed?
Mr. Power stressed the point that `stone axes` was not his field of expertise but that he had been looking up some reference material from his base at Mallow and further to that he had looked at some catalogues at U.C.C. - to date, nothing like our stone axe has turned up. I will be meeting with Professor Gabriel Cooney, Department of Archaeology, U.C.D. next week. Professor Cooney is the foremost authority on stone axes in Ireland
It was with pounding heart and a lump in my throat that I heard the phone ring out in Mr. Power’s office on the appointed day for contact regarding his Dublin excursion. On finding my man on the other end of the line; well, `what did Mr. Stoneaxe have to say for himself? ` I asked. “Having looked at the photographs he is in little doubt but the axe is not Irish and in fact he is pretty certain that it is AMERICAN!!”

There is no doubting the sincerity and absolute good faith of the person(s) who gave this artifact for consideration by our historical group and no doubt were even more taken aback by the outcome than we were.
Could Professor Cooney be mistaken, after all he didn’t see the axe? Hardly; we were to learn subsequently, that not only was our `ploughman` in America as a young man, but he was also a member of the U.S. Cavalry.
And so ended a short period of glorious expectation for our historical team; but sure, it’s still our history isn’t it?

This is Danny’s Quaint Ireland, it is Cóipcheart © Cois Má 2010