On Slea Head, you’ll find Irish Famine Cottages, a former Irish farmhouse now converted into a museum. Inside, an attractive exhibition traces the history of the families who lived here, from their precarious daily lives to the terrible Great Famine that ravaged the entire country. A fascinating and heart-rending museum, offering an unrivalled panorama of the Dun Beag cliffs, but with a visit lasting no more than a quarter of an hour…
Irish Famine Cottages date back to the early 19th century. Built on an overhanging hill (the panorama is superb!), the farmhouse originally featured stone and earth walls and a thatched roof. Comprising 2 bedrooms and an attic, it was gradually improved and enlarged by the Kavanagh family, who owned the property in the 19th century (replacement of the roof with slate, addition of a bedroom, creation of outbuildings for animals, etc.).
Today, the farmhouse has been restored and converted into a museum. It presents a rather comprehensive exhibition on 19th-century peasant life, covering the daily life of farmers, their diet (based on potatoes and cabbage), their farming tools of the time, their conflict with British landowners, and the sad episode of the Great Famine, which decimated a large part of the local Irish population, forcing the survivors to leave Ireland for America. Everything is told through the prism of the Kavanagh family, using photos and objects that once belonged to them.
The exhibition is nice, but rather short for our taste (no more than 15 minutes to go round!). It will, however, give you a better understanding of the precarious situation of Irish peasants at the time, as well as the origins of Irish emigration. Don’t forget to take a few shots of the panorama: the cliffs of Dun Beag are exceptional!
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Monday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
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