ON 3RD JULY 1646, A SEAL OF CAUSE WAS GRANTED BY THE ROYAL BURGH OF IRVINE

This united the seven individual Crafts, Hammermen, Weavers, Tailors, Cordiners, Skinners, Wrights & Squaremen and Coopers into the Incorporated Trades.

THE SEVEN TRADES OF IRVINE

The seven Trades of Irvine – Hammermen, Weavers, Tailors, Cordiners, Skinners, Wrights and Squaremen, and Coopers were well established for generations before the granting of the Seal of Cause.

In 1424, in the reign of James 1, King of Scots, it was decreed by Act of Parliament that each Trade should choose a ‘Dekyn’ or ‘Master’ to control the quality of craftsmanship within its own particular trade.

Mary, Queen of Scots, gave permission in 1556 for two craftsmen to serve on the high burgh council enabling the crafts to have a secure footing in the local government of the day…

HAMMERMEN

WEAVERS

TAILORS

CORDINERS

SKINNERS

WRIGHTS & SQUAREMEN

COOPERS

A WELCOME FROM DEACON CONVENER SCOTT GALLACHER

I would like to welcome you to our new website, revamped to coincide with the Incorporation’s 375 year anniversary. In these pages I hope you will find all you need to know about us, our crafts, our office bearers, our charitable aims, our history and indeed, our future plans.

The Incorporation has an extensive calendar of functions and events over the course of each year.  Within this site, you can see dates and venues for all events, and which Craft happens to be leading them.  Some events you may recognise, and others may be completely new to you.  A full description is available to read.

In 2022 we exist mainly as a charitable organisation, helping groups and individuals within the town of Irvine, who are less better off than ourselves.  The more members we have, the more successful our efforts are.  The more successful our efforts are, then the more people we can help.

Like many organisations, we are only just recovering from the hiatus brought about by the coronavirus epidemic.  Slowly but surely we will get back to where we were a few years ago.  I hope that from this website you gain sufficient interest to join us and help us in our charitable endeavours.