The Folk Kitchen

One of our most popular exhibits is our recreated 19th century Irish Kitchen. Come and enjoy a look at our traditional dresser with it’s selection of willow pattern plates and other fine crockery and kitchen utensils from times past. There’s an original fireplace with a vast collection of cast iron pots and pans, other fire utensils, as well as a settle bed with it’s straw mattress and a variety of heavy smoothing irons, and a collection of some of the earliest washing machines.

Our Guides can show you how a one –hundred year old vacuum cleaner was manually operated before the electrical age. View our hand-made babies cradles and high chair from a hundred years ago. Twig brooms or “besoms” for brushing the floor are among some of our treasures from the 19th century.

Next to our kitchen is The Dairy Room which demonstrates the various methods of butter-making, including a specimen of “Bog-Butter”.
Young people will be intrigued at how we used to live, this exhibition is a wonderful look back at the Irish way of life before  the advent of electricty and supermarkets .