Experience Village Street | Bunratty Castle & Folk Park

Prepare to experience village life in 19th century Ireland!

The village houses and shops in the Folk Park have been chosen from many different areas, to form a collection of typical 19th century urban Irish buildings including the School, Doctor’s house, Pawnbrokers, Pub, Drapery, Printworks, Grocery, Hardware shop, Pottery and a Post Office.

The village is set at a time of fundamental change in Irish society, and as such illustrates the growing money-orientated lifestyle of many of the villagers alongside the traditional, self-sufficient rural culture.

The Public House

MacNamara and Sons at the top of the village street is a fully licensed working pub in the style of an old fashioned hotel bar and provides modern catering facilities. Be sure and drop into Mac’s for a pint! The pub is furnished to reflect the lifestyle of the time and the fact that the publican not only sold drink, in former times, but also traded in groceries and hardware.

Thatched Farmhouses

Loop Head Farmhouse The house of small fisher – farming folk. The thatch is roped down to protect it against the Atlantic Gales. Here you will observe the Bean a Ti (woman of the House) baking bread in the traditional way.

Cashen Fisherman’s House A simple two roomed home of a North Kerry Salmon Fisherman. Much of the timber used in this house would have been salvaged from the sea. The floor is of rammed clay.

Mountain Farmhouse A poor farmers house of a type found on the borders of Limerick and Kerry. It has a loft for extra sleeping space.

Shannon Farmhouse The first farmhouse to be reconstructed on the site and which marked the beginning of the development of Bunratty Folk Park. The house was removed from where it originally stood on the site of a runway at Shannon Airport.

Bothan Scóir Farmhouse A one roomed dwelling of a poor landless labourer. Many of these fell into disrepair or were destroyed during the time of the great famine 1845-1847.

Golden Vale Farmhouse A prosperous farmers home, from the rich lands in the Golden Vale of counties Limerick and Tipperary. It has stables, byres and a corn barn. Here, Bean a Ti's bake brown bread, porter cake, apple tart, and griddle bread.

North Clare Farmhouse Reflects the building style and materials of Moher area of North Clare. This house was from an area near the Cliffs of Moher in Co. Clare. The local stone, a thick flagstone is used as a multi-purpose building material for houses, out buildings, etc.

Byre Dwelling An example from County Mayo of a dwelling occupied by both humans and their milking cows. There is a pigsty nearby.

Irish Wolfhounds

Irish Wolfhounds have inhabited Ireland long before the arrival of Christianity and the written word. They are known for being gentle, friendly and very intelligent, and our two resident Irish Wolfhounds, Meabh and Saoirse, are proof of this, and are much loved by all who visit!

Music

From our Traditional Irish Night to our Medieval Banquet, Bunratty has world class musicians who play everything from the fiddle to the harp, and who are sure to entertain! You may also be lucky enough to hear them play Traditional Irish music in the Folk Park throughout the day!

Baking at Bunratty

Join our Bean an Ti’s in the Golden Vale Farmhouse to watch them as they prepare Irish Wholemeal Brown Bread, delicious Fruit Scones, Griddle Cake & Shannon Soda Bread, some of which are cooked at the hearth, on the griddle or in the ‘Bastible’ (covered pot), in which embers are raked under and over to create a pot-oven.

Meet the local characters

Bean an Ti You will see the Bean an Ti (woman of the house) hard at work preparing soda bread, griddle cake, or apple tart. You may even receive a sample!

RIC Policeman The RIC (Royal Irish Constabulary) policemen were the police force in Ireland from the early nineteenth century until 1922. You will see our RIC Policeman patrolling the village street, ensuring all our visitors are well looked after!

School Teacher See the local school teacher give lessons in the local school located on the Village Street, and really experience what school was like in early 19th century Ireland.

Local Musician Ireland has a rich heritage of music and dance, which will become immediately clear as soon as you hear our local musician play traditional Irish music throughout the Folk Park!

The Village Street

Thatched Farmhouses

Irish Wolfhounds

Music

Baking at Bunratty

Meet the local characters