[masraum]

These two workmen on the Clonbrock Estate, Ahascragh, Co Galway in 1870 are probably "outdoor servants". The chap holding the billhook is wearing gaiters to protect his legs from brambles or thorny underbrush. He is wearing the kind of round hat which was universal workman wear till superseded by the flat cap, at the end of the century. His tail coat, with large brass buttons, was a distinctive feature of the dress of the "stage Irishman" till well into the 20th century.
His companion, by contrast, is wearing the kind of working suit which would have been seen anywhere on the mainland, teamed with a navvy-style cap. They are standing in front of the "Photographic House" at Clonbrock: the Clonbrock photographic collection is one of the most important archives for images of Ireland in the later Victorian period.