Bunratty Castle and Folk Park, Co. Clare .. part 2 : Travel Reminiscences

 10 day self-drive tour of Ireland : October 2009

Having been through Bunratty Castle, hubby and I strolled through the recreation of a 19th century Folk Park … in intermittent rain.  Umbrella in one hand .. camera in the other.  My previous post is linked here .. todays post is an expansion of that one 😉

Loop Head House – typical home of small fish-farming folk of S.W coast of Co. Clare.  Thatch is roped down to protect it again the Atlantic gales

Blacksmith’s Forge ..

Cashen Fisherman’s House .. a simple two bedroomed home of a North Kerry Salmon fisherman.  Most of the timber would have been salvaged from the sea.  The floor is of rammed clay.  Note the small door !!

Mountain Farmhouse .. a poor farmer’s house of a type found on the borders of Limerick and Kerry. There is a loft for extra sleeping space

The Weaver’s Shed ..  a wooden outbuilding for housing the loom of the weaver

I would have loved to have bought something from there, but our Rand/Euro made everything very expensive 🙁     Such a friendly lady (as we found everyone in Ireland to be) in the Weaver’s Shed who said that if it stopped raining by 3 o’clock the sun would shine the next day.  She was right!!   It stopped by 3 o’ clock on the dot and there was glorious sunshine the following day 🙂

A travelling bed inside the Shannon Farmhouse.  The farmhouse originally stood on the site of the Shannon Airport and was the first house to be reconstructed in the Folk Park.  (I don’t know why I only have the one photo of the inside) …

My favourite photograph ..

Golden Vale Farmhouse .. home of a farmer from the rich lands in the Golden Vale of Limerick and Tipperary Counties.   ‘Farmer’s wife’  makes soda bread, scones and apple pies to be served in the tea room

We both fancied a fresh-out-of-the-oven piece of apple pie, but sadly they weren’t ready yet.  We settled for just a hot cup of coffee to warm us up ..

Stepping back in time …

Every village has to have a pub ..

..

Ardcroney Church was moved stone by stone from Ardcroney to the Folk Park

North Clare Farmhouse .. building style and materials of the rocky Moher area of north County Clare

Bunratty House .. a late Georgian dwelling, built in 1805) of the type occupied by minor gentry in the 19th century ..

Hazelbrook House .. built in 1898 was home to the Hughes Brothers who started a dairy industry in the 1800’s and later produced HB Ice Cream, which became a household name in ice cream in Ireland ..

Vertical Mill ..   a classical example of a rural undershot watermill ..

Horizontal Mill .. a working corn mill based on findings of an excavation in Mashanaglas, Co. Cork

Haystacks on saddle stones ..

Customary tourist shop at the exit .. we bought Irish whistles for the grandchildren from here.  Would have loved to have bought a Bodhran too  .. and should have bought some jam and/or marmalade 😉

We then went further down the road to the Bunratty Winery to have a look ..

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