Moore man keeping the ‘God in the Bottle’ tradition alive

The national spotlight will be on one of the residents of the tightly-knit rural community of Moore in South Roscommon next month when popular RTE programme ‘Nationwide’ features a segment on the rare skill known as ‘God in the Bottle.'

Eddie Hendrick, who is a native of Offaly, but who has now made his home in Clonburren, Moore, is one of two master craftsmen who will feature on the programme, along with Pat Gorman from the small rural parish of Killurin, outside Tullamore.

Despite the fact that they are believed to date from the mid-19th century, the significance of the ‘God in the Bottle’ creations only came to light when Offaly County Council architect Rachel McKenna began researching the traditional architecture of the county for a book she was writing.

The results of her meticulous research brought her into contact with Eddie Hendrick’s father, Ned, a native of Shannonbridge and Pat Gorman, both of whom have been making these unique artefacts for many years and are proud to keep the tradition alive.

The so-called ‘God in the Bottle’ was an object known to Catholics across Europe and, in its most basic form, it consists of a carved wooden cross depicting the passion of Christ and a ladder which are connected to a thread or a wire and inserted into a reused bottle though the neck. The threads or wires are then removed using tweezers and the bottle is filled with water or white vinegar to preserve the wood.

Eddie Hendrick inherited the tradition of making ‘God in the Bottle’ artefacts from his father, Ned, and he is hoping that his own son, 22-year-old Kevin, will also keep the tradition alive in the next generation.

Ned is currently hospitalised having suffered a stroke, so Eddie took part in the RTE 1 Nationwide programme which is due to be screened in early March and will feature a segment on the tradition of making ‘God in the Bottle.’

Ned and Eddie Hendrick, along with Pat Gorman, are among what is thought to be only a handful of skilled craftsmen in Ireland, and maybe even across Europe, who are still hand carving the unique ‘God in the Bottle’ artefacts.

Having perfected the traditional ‘God in the Bottle’ Eddie Hendrick is now taking his skills one step further by attempting to carve a Celtic Cross and place it inside a bottle. “This has never been done before” he admits “but I am working on the project at the minute so hopefully it will turn out well and I’ll be able to complete it.”

Eddie, who has been carving ‘God in the Bottle’ for over a quarter of a century now, reckons he has made over 40 of them, and he says the painstaking process is “good for the head” but adds that you need “plenty of patience.” He explains that if he is having difficulty placing the carved pieces of wood through the neck of the bottle “I just leave it there and come back to it at a later stage as you could drive yourself mad if you stay at any project when it’s not working out.”

His wife, Catherine, and daughter, Laura, are full of admiration for the intricate work that goes into creating the ‘’God in a Bottle’ and are also hoping that the tradition is kept alive for future generations.

Rachel McKenna’s book ‘Traditional Architecture in Offaly’ showcases the wonderful skills of the ‘God in the Bottle’ project and the work of people like Eddie and Ned Hendrick and Pat Gorman and she is hoping that the exposure of the project on RTE next month will bring this unique project to an even wider audience.