Bunratty Folk Park

Bunratty Folk Park is an original Irish attraction, recreating a life-size rural Irish village!

This lively, bustling village takes you on a journey through Irish history, with its period houses and farmhouses spanning the centuries. It’s a great interactive experience that will give you a better understanding of the country’s historical and cultural heritage!

Fully open to visitors, these dwellings feature period furniture and a typically Irish structure… And don’t miss the town center, with its school, post office and pub, which is of course open to visitors… A must-see little village!

Visit Bunratty Folk Park

A journey back in time to rediscover Irish peasant life

Bunratty Folk Park village – nz_willowherb – cc

Bunratty Folk Park has the advantage of being located at the very foot of the extremely popular Bunratty Castle (a 15th-century Irish castle).

In fact, the park is included in the castle tour package, allowing you to discover 19th-century rural Ireland as you’ve never seen it before!

It has to be said that the park has thought big. It is built around a main street, where he has recreated all the typical features of a village of the period. There are houses, a school, an Irish pub, a doctor’s surgery, a post office, shops, a printing works… And the sense of detail is so great that you’ll feel as if you’ve stepped back in time!

For an even more immersive experience, you’ll come across actors dressed in period costume, engaged in the daily activities of 19th-century Ireland. You can even take a seat in the pub and sample the artisanal products of the time!

The tour then continues, leaving the village street and moving out into the countryside. And it’s here, in the middle of the Irish countryside, that the show goes on. The park isn’t just a village street: it extends over 26 hectares and features an impressive collection of buildings ranging from traditional farmhouses and mills to large Georgian townhouses. And they can all be visited!

Here, the houses correspond to the different classes of the period. You’ll come across the thatched cottages of the poorest Irish people, as well as prestigious mansions. A perfect panel to better understand the inequalities of this period.

An authentic atmosphere

We particularly appreciate the extreme attention to detail: you’ll notice the rusticity of the furniture, as well as the fragrant peat burning silently in the fireplaces. The taste of the bread sold even has an ancient charm, taking us back several centuries!

Allow around two hours for the tour: the castle and its grounds are well worth the detour!