John Haugh was born in 1921 in Co. Clare. In 1938, he was awarded a scholarship to study woodcarving at the Arts & Crafts School at the Benedictine Abbey in Glenstal, Co. Limerick. He studied and travelled until 1949 when he began working professionally in Dublin on church and folk art. He traced his love of wood to receiving the gift of a Súgán chair on his fifth birthday from his local carpenter. The memory of sitting on that chair, resting his hands on the curved arms and feeling the warmth and smoothness of the wood remained with him and initiated a lifetime of creating such memories for others. Although much of his practice was dedicated to the art of carving, he also produced a number of drawings. He received a number of large commissions throughout his busy working life and after fifty years, he retired in 1999. He died in 2008.
