It's St Patrick's week and a great time of the year to remember the beauty of Ireland / Northern Ireland, with its rolling green hills, traditional farming background, and rural countryside cottages.
These photos reflect the traditional dwellings and beauty of our landscape. Ireland / Northern Ireland is a great place to visit, with lots to see and do. Highly recommended!
Left: Fisherman's Cottage.
 |
| Above: Corradreenan Farm - cottage circa 1802, a simple two-roomed house with a kitchen and a bedroom. |
 |
| Above: Coshkib Hill Farm - a hill farm circa 1850 from Glenballyemon, one of the nine glens of County Antrim,
comprised mostly of moorland and mountain grazing (sheep and cattle) and hay, oats, and potatoes grown. |
 |
| Above: Ballydugan Linen Weaver's House. This is a replica of a mid-19th century traditional dwelling. |
 |
| Above and below: Peat fires with its distinctive smell were and still are a common way to stay warm on cold days. The cutting of peat (called 'turf' when cut) for fuel began in the 17th century; more on this can be read by clicking here. |
 |
| Above: The Old Rectory Cottage - This thatched-roofed house is an example of English rather than Irish building traditions; the skills and techniques to build this style were brought into Ireland by English settlers. Through studies of the roof timbers, the house is thought to have been built in 1717. Original location: Lismacloskey townland, Toomebridge, County Antrim. |
 |
| Above and Below: Inside the Old Rectory Cottage it's furnished as the home of an established clergyman, and represents the rural or small-town home of the period 1890-1910. |
 |
| Above: 1800s McCusker’s Pub - public houses were, and still are, a centre of social life in many Irish towns. |
 |
| Above: Basket Maker's Workshop - a traditional countryside skill of willow tree basketry. |
 |
| Above: Sheep and Spring lambs abound in Ireland this time of year. Photo taken on the North Antrim Coast. |
Most of the photos of cottages and farms above are part of the historic display at Northern Ireland’s Folk Museum, which was created to preserve the
rural way of life and keep it from disappearing all together with increasing
urbanisation and industrialisation. The 170 acre Folk Museum and its cottages / dwellings have been collected from various parts of Ireland / Northern Ireland and rebuilt,
brick by brick, in the grounds of the museum. If visiting Belfast this is a fantastic museum to
spend a day ‘going back in time’ and experiencing life from around 100 years ago.
Copyright: All words and photos are property of Kelli's Northern Ireland Garden.
