S.N. Thóin Ré Gaoith: TURAS SCOILE, RANGANNA 3

22 Meitheamh 2016

(1) National Museum of Ireland - Country Life,
Turlough Park,
Castlebar,
Co. Mayo.
Discover traditional ways of life in Ireland through trades, crafts, farming, hunting, fishing, domestic life and festivals.

First, we visited Turlough Park House, which was the home of the Fitzgerald family, to whom the estate was granted under the Cromwellian land settlements of the mid-seventeenth century.

Then, we went into the museum:

Stiophán & Cáitríona gléasta suas le eadaí tradisiúnta.

(2) Hennigan's Heritage Centre,
Killaser,
Swinford,
Co. Mayo.

Chuir Tom fáilte an-mhór romhainn!

At the heart of the centre is the thatched cottage, built in the 1870's, where the Hennigan family lived until 1970.

"The Ensuite Bathroom & Toilet".........!!!!

And, Granny's little nook in the corner doubles up as a 'theatre' !
Laoise led us in 'Óró 'se do Bheatha Bhaile'.

Tom showed us lots of card tricks from long ago and told us how the pack of cards relates to the Bible.

And, he played a simple game to show some of the fun they had, to entertain themselves, in olden times!

Tá se in am don lón anois!

Criostóir......... Mrs. McNamara has been teaching you about what's tasty!

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And now, to Tom's collection of exhibits and history panels, much of it related to our history programme this year. We saw replica models of crannógs, forts, fulacht fiadhs, round towers and much more:

(3) Next stop ....... Céide Fields,
Ballycastle,
County Mayo.

In the 1930s, the local schoolmaster, Patrick Caulfield, kept coming across large numbers of stones deep down in the bog, during turf cutting. What really caught his attention was the fact that they appeared to be placed in a regular formation. Years later, his son, Séamus Caulfield who had studied archaeology, investigated further and discovered evidence of cultivated fields, houses and tombs which had lain hidden for many centuries. By using iron probes (traditionally used for finding ancient trees under deep bog), Séamus and his team traced out a pattern of walls. This remarkable neolithic site at Céide Fields contains the oldest known stone-walled fields in the world – dating back nearly 6,000 years.....older than the Pyramids of Egypt!