Irish traditional buildings - The Thatched Cottage

Drawings by Rory O'Shaughnessy. Texts by Christy Cunniffe and John Joe Conwel

The traditional or vernacular houses of the Irish countryside are an endangered species at this time in their long history. However, it is still possible to pick out examples in each area to illustrate adequately how they looked.

The traditional or vernacular houses of the Irish countryside are an endangered species at this time in their long history. However, it is still possible to pick out examples in each area to illustrate adequately how they looked. They generally consisted of simple single-storey structures, with three, sometimes four, separate chambers laid out on a linear plan consisting of a kitchen flanked on either side by a pair of bedrooms. When a third bedroom was added this was generally accessed via one of the other bedrooms and it often doubled as a parlour or good room where special guests or visitors to the house such as the priest or relations home from the States or England would be invited to sit. It was in this room too, that the all-important, Station breakfast was eaten. This room would have held a large sideboard, a fancy clock, a set of six good chairs and an equally fine table to match and a set of the best delph and of course loads of pictures. It also often functioned as a bedroom having a discrete press-bed that could be hidden away when the room was required for more formal other uses.

The kitchen was the central hub of the house as it was here that the cooking, washing, dining and general entertaining of neighbours took place. A big open fireplace provided heat and light and was the focal point in the kitchen. Depending on its style  it may have had a pair of hobs on which the children sat. A crane from which the ever boiling kettle and pots hung and sometimes small niches for storing salt and other goods that needed to be kept dry were a feature of the fireplace.

 Opposite the fire place on the other side of the kitchen along the smaller room wall a dresser was usually to be found. Beside it there may have been a large food cupboard with diagonally boarded doors. The dresser consisted of a set of open shelves on top adorned by crockery and plates of all hues and shapes.

A standard dresser boasted a number of large oval plates on top, cups in blues and browns hanging on hooks from the front of the shelves, mugs for everyday use with striking blue rings and some with country scenes in brown were usually lined up on the next shelf. The lower shelf usually held the jugs. The jugs were important for holding milk they were often acquired by the housewife when purchasing jam as the jam manufacturers used them as storage vessels for their jam - a useful means to promote the consumption of factory made jam. This array of kitchen ware was the pride and joy of the housewife.

Some dressers displayed a set of long iron cooking-spits that functioned as retainers for the colourful display of mismatching plates rather than cooking implements. Some dressers were open at the bottom or had cage-like doors to retain a rather content looking nesting hen referred to as a clocker or perhaps a goose.  

The wall opposite the door most likely contained a settle or settle-bed as it was generally known. This ingenious piece of furniture functioned as a form or seat by day, but at night it could be opened out to reveal a step in bed. My late uncle often spoke of himself, his two brothers, and his three dogs all sharing the same settle bed. Other furniture associated with the kitchen consist of items of furniture such as a table located on the front wall of the house under the window and shelf for cups and plates. A salt box was common in many kitchens. This would have been hung from a nail near the fire to keep the salt dry. 

In some house the large recess to one side of the chimney breast was used as a press while the space above this and over the room door on the other side of the chimney breast was used to keep the horses collar and other such items that needed to be kept warm and dry. In coastal areas this space was used to keep fishing nets.

Lighting initially was by means of rush lamps rushes dipped in fat or tallow was held in a special pincer-like holder (made by the local blacksmith) and would burn for long periods of time. Rush lights were later replaced by the much better and brighter burning oil or paraffin lamps of which there are many types.

The hearth was by far the moist significant part of the house. All entertainment took place there. Stories, news, songs and general gossip were all swapped and shared beside the fire. An iron kettle, a set of pots and a pot-oven or bastibule, a griddle and grid iron and an iron frying pan were the utensils used for cooking.

Often a loft was constructed above the smaller of the rooms opposite the fireplace. This was accessed by means of a wooden ladder from the kitchen. It functioned as extra sleeping space for the children and may have hade a window in its gable wall depending on the type of roof structure that the house had.

A pair of chairs might be found near the fire or at either end of the table. Three-legged stools were the commonest seating three legs being perfectly suited for an uneven floor surface � one or two long stools or forms could seat two or three children on each allowing a family of six plus parents fit around the table. Pictures where they occurred were usually religious in nature.

References.

Danaher, K. 1975 Ireland's Vernacular Architecture. Mercier Press, Cork.

Evans, E.E. 1957 Irish Folkways. Routledge, London.

Gailey, A. 1984  Rural Houses of the North of Ireland. Edinburgh.

Ní Fhloinn, B. and Dennison, G. (eds) 1994 traditional architecture in Ireland and its role in rural tourism and development. Dublin. 

 Oliver, P. (ed.) 2003 Encyclopaedia of the Vernacular Architecture of the World. Oxford, Cambridge University Press.

Shaffrey, P and Shaffrey, M. 1985 Irish Countryside Buildings. O'Brien Press,  Dublin