the golden vale garmhouse

7/28/2019 The Golden Vale Garmhouse

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Introduction...................3Wall Construction.........4

Roofs..............................5Windows and Doors.....6

Porches...........................7Chimneys.......................8Kitchen fire.....................9

Jamb wall & Spy hole......10Kitchen............................11

Bedrooms........................12The loft............................13The parlour......................14Religion ...........................15

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The Golden Vale farm house is known as the dwelling of

a prosperous farmer from the pastureland of Limericklocated in the southwest of Ireland. This is the best landin Ireland for diary farming.

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The Farmhouse is only onroom wide as long timberswere not available forroofing. Unlike modern housing there is no

doorstep at the entrance of thehouse. This indicates how thehouse easily blends into the land

Note how thechimney iscentrally located.

From thisinformation theFarmhouse can beclassed under

Vernacular

Architecture.


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Rough Cast Lime plaster

Mortar

Rubble fill

Lime putty

Rough cast

stone

The Golden Vale Farmhouse is located in the south westof Ireland where winds were prominent. For this reasonthe walls were constructed using stone and mortar. Limeputty provided a smooth finish to the interior walls. Notehow the inside and outside have the same ground level,indicating how these houses blend into the landscape.

A storage facility housed into the wallindicates how thick these walls are

The use of bright coloursis aesthetically pleasing

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Thatch was the main covering used.This was a readily available source as itgrew locally in the countryside. It alsoreflected the economic times as thatch

was affordable while slate was not.

Due to the westerly location ofsome vernacular houses the

thatch roof had to be pinned tothe wall due to strong winds

Vernacular houses were open to modificationsdue to their simple style. Outhouses becameprominent post famine era which consisted of a

corrugated iron roof covering. 5The thickness of thatch helpedretain the heat in the house


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The windows used were

sash windows. Thematerial used in theirmanufacture was wooda plentiful source. Themain living/work areaswere provided with

large windows(

left).

The loft/attic room wasgiven small scale window(right).Window sills were madefrom flagstone. As thestone was so hard to cut,

the sills have a roughhammered finish

Horizontal bracing

Diagonal bracing

Tee hinges

Tongued & grooved sheeting

Bright colours suchas white, red and

green were popular.The back of thedoor was braced asshown below


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Like outhouses porches became apopular modification. They weremanufactured from natural materialsand due to their simplicity did notimpact on the attractive traditionalelement of the house. Right is anexample of a stone porch with a sloped

flagstone roof.

Their main purpose wasto provide protection tovisitors at the front door

from wind and rain.

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The chimney is constructed

using red brick and has a doubleflue, serving a large open fire inthe kitchen and parlour fireshown below. The chimney islocated in a central positionwithin the dwelling.

This is a view looking upthe chimney from inside

the house

Fire lit onflagstone floor Parlour has a

fireplace8


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The kitchen fire was simply lit directly on thefloor. The main fuel was turf and timber. Theheat generated from the fire was used tobake bread as shown above. The bread wasplaced on a tray which received its heat from

the warm floor.

The crane was used to anchor largepots of water over the fire in orderto be heated. This water was usedfor washing and cleaning.

Baskets of turf and large pots

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In the Golden Vale Farmhouse the hearth is

positioned in the centre of the house. Thiscreates problems due to the position of thedoorway. To prevent heat loss and provideshelter to fire, a jamb wall was erectedbetween the doorway and the hearth.

Kitchen

JambWall

Spyhole

parlour

Bedroom

BedRoom/loftabove

Bedroom

SPYHOLE

This small hole left inthe jamb wall allowsthe dweller to seevisitors arriving

PLAN VIEW10


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The sewing machine in the kitchen was used to make cloths,table cloths, bed linen and other requirements. Very little

clothing was purchased due to financial constraints. Pillowcovers, sheets and aprons were made from flour sacks which wasat the time were cloth material. Very little was wasted.

Right is a hand washingmachine. This was used

extensively to wash clothes.The clothes were fed throughrollers at the back of themachine which removed theexcess water from the material,making it easier for drying.

Old dresser used to display kitchen wearwhich was mostly willow

Canisters wereused to holdmilk whichhad expiredand would beused to makebread

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The golden Vale Farmhousecomprises of three bedrooms at

ground level. Each bedroom hasan iron bed and different piecesof furniture and accessories

No bathrooms existed. Norunning water was available.Chamber pots (left) wereused as night time toiletfacilities. Some houses had

dry toilet facilities outsidefor during the day use.

Shown (left) is the washstand which was used forwashing and bathing. This is

the equivalent of a handbasin nowadays. The waterwhich was heated over thekitchen fire was poured intothe jug shown and out of thejug into the basin.

A high chair was usedwhen feeding babies in thehouse

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In the golden vale farmhouse theloft provides an extra bedroom.This bedroom is much smallerthan its counterparts downstairs.The heat generated downstairs bythe fire, kitchen activities andfamily members rises upstairs andheats the room.

Standing at the loft door providesthe dweller a view of the kitchen fireand activities, the children and anypeople entering the room.

The size of thewindowindicates howcompact the

loft is 13


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The parlour was a very important room in thehouse and was kept strictly for visitors wheredinner would be served. No children wereallowed in the room. The dinning room tableand chairs were expensive pieces of furniture.

Parlourfireplace.

Recordplayer

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The rosary wouldhave taken placeevery night in thehouse between

family members.

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Within every roomin the Golden Vale

Farmhouse areligious statueexists. Thisindicates theculture andtraditions whichexisted.

the golden vale garmhouse

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