# Hands (TV series)

Hands was an Irish television documentary series broadcast by RTÉ between 1978 and 1989, covering traditional Irish crafts.

## Production

Creator David Shaw-Smith began with Telefís Éireann in the 1960s, working as a cameraman with Gerrit van Gelderen and became an independent filmmaker in the early 1970s. he and his wife Sally, an illustrator, travelled Ireland in a VW van recording traditional craftsmen.

## Episode list

| # | Broadcast date | Title | Narrator |
| 1 | 17 April 1978 | Wool Spinning | Seamus Ó Catháin |
| 2 | 3 July 1981 | Irish Patchwork | Seamus Ó Catháin |
| 3 | 11 April 1983 | Irish Lace | Mairead Reynolds |
| 4 | 11 May 1989 | Irish Embroidery | Linda Ballard |
| 5 | 18 March 1980 | Donegal Weavers | Ray McAnally |
| 6 | 19 June 1981 | Dublin Woolen Mill | Ray McAnally |
| 7 | 24 April 1979 | Donegal Carpets | Ray McAnally |
| 8 | 15 May 1979 | Tailor | Benedict Kiely |
| 9 | 4 March 1985 | English Silk | Alec Taylor |
| 10 | 1 May 1978 | Carriage Building | Seamus Ó Catháin |
| 11 | 1980 | Cavan Cabinetmakers | Benedict Kiely |
| 12 | 5 June 1981 | Cavan Cooper | Ray McAnally |
| 13 | 11 March 1980 | Chair Maker John Surlis | Benedict Kiely |
| 14 | 1988 | Dublin's Viking Longship | Éamonn Mac Thomáis |
| 15 | 1989 | Harp Making | Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin |
| 16 | 1983 | Hurlmaking | Diarmaid Ó Muirithe |
| 17 | 1991 | Irish Spinning Wheel Making | Ben Kiely |
| 18 | 1988 | Shannon One Design | Ben Kiely |
| 19 | 1980 | Carley's Bridge Potteries | Ray McAnally |
| 20 | 1987 | Belleek Potteries | Benedict Kiely |
| 21 | 1983 | Clay Pipe Works | Diarmuid Ó Muirithe |
| 22 | 1980 | A Dublin Silversmith | Éamonn Mac Thomáis |
| 23 | 1989 | Powers of the Metal | Diarmuid Ó Muirithe |
| 24 | 1981 | Stone | Éamonn Mac Thomáis |
| 25 | 1983 | Dublin's Workhorses | Éamonn Mac Thomáis |
| 26 | 1979 | Shoe Making | Ray McAnally |
| 27 | 1981 | A Dublin Bookbinder | Dr. Maurice Craig |
| 28 | 30 May 1983 | The Saddler | Brian McSharry |
| 29 | 1978 | Curraghs | Seamus Ó Catháin |
| 30 | 1989 | Rushwork | Seamus Ó Catháin |
| 31 | 1978 | Basketmaking | Andy O'Mahony |
| 32 | 1981 | Wexford Thatcher | Diarmuid Ó Muirithe |
| 33 | 1980 | Fermanagh Country | Benedict Kiely |
| 34 | 1978 | Stoneground | Andy O’Mahony |
| 35 | 1982 | A Dublin Candlemaker | Éamonn Mac Thomáis |
| 36 | 1983 | Of Bees & Bee Skeps | Diarmuid Ó Muirithe |
| 37 | 1989 | Lighthouse Crafts | Dick Warner |

## Legacy

Hands has been described as one of "Ireland’s favourite" television programs, and has been rebroadcast several times to the extent that it is one of the "most broadcast" RTÉ productions.
Harvey O'Brien, in his The Real Ireland: The Evolution of Ireland in Documentary Film (2004), said "The series was marked by its close-up observation of the techniques involved, and though lacking an explicit social commentary always gave the sense that these skills were gradually disappearing.".
For over 20 years, the original film sat in tea chests in a barn in Creagh, County Mayo. In March 2013 archivists packed all 1,800 film cans into storage containers and brought them to the RTÉ Archives.
In 2013, it was revisited in the series In Good Hands (TV series).
From Christmas 2021 all programmes online at RTE Player to celebrate 60 Years of Television.