I must say that I'm thrilled to see a posting from Roy Underhill, whose PBS-TV
series on woodworking, books, and as I recall, served a brief stint at
Clayville for Sangamon State University.....well, it's a thril to see a
posting from him.
 
I don't know of any research materials on Irish wood-working, but I think
the subject is going to be part of larger collections of folk-lore, recipes,
and similar topics.  There are some extraordinarily comprehensive Irish Studies
collections in American universities; perhaps your library's SUBJECT COLLECTION
set from Gale would be of help.
 
Dean DeBolt, University of West Florida