Thatched Cottages
Advertisement for Sale of Traditional Thatched Cottage
Three colour photographs showing the exterior and interior of a well-preserved thatched cottage, including a log cabin on the property. This is taken from a realtor’s brochure. The pictures show a well-maintained cottage, built in the old tradition, and seemingly still retaining all the older features of casement windows and intact thatch. The property is for sale in Carndonagh, on the Inishowen Peninsula of Co. Donegal. With its prestigious location near the famous Ballyliffin Golf Club, it is priced at €240,000.
Advertisement for Sale of Traditional Thatched Cottage
Advertisement for Sale of Traditional Thatched Cottage
Three colour photographs showing the exterior and interior of a well-preserved thatched cottage, including a log cabin on the property. This is taken from a realtor’s brochure. The pictures show a well-maintained cottage, built in the old tradition, and seemingly still retaining all the older features of casement windows and intact thatch. The property is for sale in Carndonagh, on the Inishowen Peninsula of Co. Donegal. With its prestigious location near the famous Ballyliffin Golf Club, it is priced at €240,000.
Thatched cottages were built for hundreds of years in Donegal. Some remain to this day, and well-maintained examples are similar in price to newer homes.
Thatch was very popular in centuries gone by because it was cheaper than the alternatives and could last for up to fifty years.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, most houses in rural areas of Donegal were built from local stone. They consisted of an upper bedroom and a large central room, which doubled as a kitchen and sitting area, sometimes with a bed arranged in a corner.
Furniture usually consisted of a table, several chairs or stools and an open dresser proudly displaying the family's china collection.
Dormitory Towns
Falcarragh in the Late 1800s
Old photograph of Main Street, Falcarragh, Co. Donegal, probably taken in the 1880s or 1890s. The street is roughly surfaced with coarse stones and gravel, with a gully for rainwater running along one side. The houses look fairly recently built, and all have slated roofs.
Lawrence Collection, the National Library.Falcarragh in the Late 1800s
Lawrence Collection, the National Library.
Lawrence Collection, the National Library.
Falcarragh in the Late 1800s
Old photograph of Main Street, Falcarragh, Co. Donegal, probably taken in the 1880s or 1890s. The street is roughly surfaced with coarse stones and gravel, with a gully for rainwater running along one side. The houses look fairly recently built, and all have slated roofs.
Lawrence Collection, the National Library.
Falcarragh in the 1990s
Photograph of Main Street, Falcarragh, Co. Donegal in the 1990s. The houses pictured by William Lawrence in the late nineteenth century are still standing and have been well maintained. Most retain their original features.
Donegal County LibraryFalcarragh in the 1990s
Donegal County Library
Donegal County Library
Falcarragh in the 1990s
Photograph of Main Street, Falcarragh, Co. Donegal in the 1990s. The houses pictured by William Lawrence in the late nineteenth century are still standing and have been well maintained. Most retain their original features.
Donegal County LibraryGradually, slate roofs began to replace traditional thatched roofs. More rooms were added on to the gable ends of cottages as families increased in size and prosperity.
The principal houses of Donegal towns were usually built along the main streets. These were the homes of merchants and professionals.
Many shopkeepers lived above their business premises. In the twenty-first century, as the population of the bigger towns has increased, outlying villages have been transformed into 'dormitory' towns.
This means that workers must travel from these outlying areas to their places of employment in the larger towns.