The Visitor Experience At The Irish National Heritage Park

About The Heritage Park | The Visitor Experience

Leave Today Behind and Begin an Unforgettable Journey through 9000 years of Irish History.

Enter a special place, where Ireland's heritage comes alive with sights and sounds that shaped a country and helped to shape the world. A visit to the Irish National Heritage Park is like no other you can imagine. Surprises wait around every turn as you explore 35 acres of this remarkable heritage trail.

From Campsite to Ringfort, from Mill to Fulacht Fiadh, from Crannog to Viking House, every activity is an unexpected adventure into 9000 years. The world you enter is an authentic recreation of Ireland's heritage. Homesteads, places of ritual, burial modes and long forgotten remains will enlighten the casual visitor and interest the scholar. See our Celtic farm with its ancient breed animals.

Everywhere you go there are opportunities for discovery and learning. Chat with our guides and share these discoveries, delight in the tour and experience the grinding of grain in the Horizontal Water Mill. Within the park, children have a unique opportunity to experience Ireland's heritage in an enjoyable and relaxed atmosphere. Special programmes and family fun days are here to entertain and delight the children; it is a place where history is happening everyday. Whether you join us for an hour or an afternoon, every visit to the Irish National Heritage Park will be a time you will never forget.

Stone Age
For the first 5000 years after their arrival in Ireland, the inhabitants used tools and weapons made from stone, wood and bone.

The earliest settlers came to an island covered with trees (pine, birch, hazel and willow). There was an abundance of wild animals for food, and from archaeological excavations, we know that they lived almost entirely by hunting.

Their "houses" would have been made of sods, timber and skins. Their clothes were probably of animal hides. There is evidence to suggest that they spread widely throughout the country.

Farming began in Ireland about 4,000 BC, and for the first time the inhabitants were not solely dependant on hunting for their food. They used polished stone axes to clear areas of trees, to prepare them for grazing and for crops. They used the timber to build houses and fences to prevent their animals from predators such as wolves. Their houses were made of timber, and insulated with clay (wattle and daub). They had no chimney, and so were smoky, and dark.

The construction of Portal Tombs (Dolmens), during the Neolithic period, points to a prosperous society with a hierarchical structure. These tombs would not have been intended for ordinary people.

There have been 160 portal tombs found in Ireland, and they also occur in Western Britain. Portal tombs usually face east, are often uphill and near water. It appears that the people may have been dead for many years before being put in the tomb.

Bronze Age (2,000 - 500BC)
A technical revolution began in Ireland with the introduction of copper, and later bronze. This alloy of tin and copper could be beaten into different shapes or cast by pouring it into stone or clay moulds. A greater range of tools and implements were now available, and these were stronger and more durable than their stone predecessors. Stone weapons didn't, however, die out, but continued to be used along with the new tools for centuries.

These new tools and implements meant that farmers could buy more land and cultivate it better. There is evidence of well-developed field systems at this time, including the use of crop rotation. The sickle was introduced for the harvesting of corn and grass. The ox-drawn plough, and horse seem also to have been introduced to Ireland at this time. The Bronze Age in Ireland is notable for its wealth of gold ornaments, and the National Museum in Dublin boasts the finest collection of Gold in Western Europe.

Burial customs varied around this time. Earlier in the period it was common to have burial of the whole bodies, but this later gave way to cremation, and burial of the ashes and unburned bones. They would often be placed in a pottery vessel shaped like an urn. Two different grave styles were used. A cist was a shallow pit lined with stones and covered with a large flat capstone. Simply removing the earth and inserting the remains made the other. Standing stones in the earth above marked some graves. Stone circles date from the Neolithic - Early Bronze Age (around 2,000 BC). These were sacred places, for the performance of rituals, whose nature and purpose remains a mystery. They may have been associated with the dead, as some burials have been found within some of those excavated.

Quartz was used, which also points to a ritual use. Quartz was a known indicator of copper and gold, and may have been thought to have magical properties. The circles are almost invariably the same. Each has an entrance, which faces North-East, and this is directly opposite the lowest stone. This is always flat-topped in contrast to the other stones. This has led to the suggestion that the circles have some astronomical significance, although it is difficult to establish proof for this theory.

Celtic, Early Christian Age (500BC - 1169AD)
The Celts emerged from Central Europe as a culturally distinct people about 1,000 BC. Aided by iron weapons, and bringing their unique form of Celtic art, they expanded over much of Europe, reaching Ireland at around 500BC. The Irish did not write, but their traditions were handed down orally. The earliest form of writing dates from around the third century BC; it was called Ogham (pronounced like poem). It consisted of notches carved on standing stones, and therefore was used only for special purposes, such as commemorating important people. The inscription usually gives some information about their history. The example at the Irish National Heritage Park, reads "Ivageni Avvi Maqqi Treni" meaning "Of Eoghan, grandson of Mac Triuin" This name comes from the Irish for New Ross, Ross Mhic Triuin. Raths were typical dwelling places of the nobles and "strong farmers" from around 500 to 1000 AD. They consisted of a circular area enclosed by a timber wall with a ditch on the outside. In the west these banks were made of stone, and called cashels. Within the enclosure were dwelling houses with walls of stone and clay and roofs of straw or reed thatch. Many raths contained underground passages known as souterrains. These were stone-lined, and could be used for storage of food, concealing valuables, and for hiding during attack.

Cattle raising was a major activity, and the number of cattle he owned would determine a man's status in the community. This made cattle raiding very common. Cereals were grown for making Bread and beer. Peas, beans, onions and celery were also grown. The cereals would be ground in a quern. The ungrounded corn was put in at the top, it was rotated by hand, and flour came out the bottom.

Christianity probably arrived in Ireland by the 4th century. Early in the 5th century it was given an added impetus by the arrival of missionaries sent by the Pope in Rome. The most famous of these was St. Patrick, who arrived in 432 AD, and preached mainly in the North of Ireland. From around 550 AD a major change took place in the Irish Church, with the arrival of Monasticism. Its ideals of seclusion and prayer seemed to appeal greatly to the Irish people, and Monastic Settlements were very quickly established throughout the country. During this period, some of Ireland's greatest works of art were produced, such as the Book of Kells and the Ardagh Chalice, and Ireland became known abroad as the "Island of Saints and Scholars". The monastery in the Heritage Park consists of the Church, a Monk's cell, a scriptorium, a refectory and garden.

In these times it was necessary to dry the cereal grain by means of indirect heat from an open fire, to avoid mould growth from dampness, and to remove moisture before milling, which would have clogged the millstone. A drying kiln was usually used for this purpose. The heat from a carefully controlled, hot, slow-burning fire was conducted along a flue, to a circular drying chamber and passed up through a lightly built drying floor. This floor consisted of a wattle framework, supported by several larger crossbeams. On this was a horse hair sheet, on which the corn was placed for drying.

The horizontal water mill is one of the world's first automatic machines and its origins remain obscure. The process was a two-step one. First, to remove the husks from the shells, the stones were separated by the thickness of one grain. After this, winnowing separates the husks. The kernel was again fed into the mill, where the millstones had been now been brought closer together. The ground kernel was now carefully sieved to extract either flour or meal. The Irish Horizontal Mill used a spray of water from a reservoir to turn the mill wheel; gates in a dam controlled this.

Hunting was a favourite sport in Ireland in prehistoric Ireland. At the end of the day, it was customary to set up a camp and prepare a feast from the day's kill. Sometimes the same campsite was used for the entire season or for several seasons. To cook them they used the Fulacht Fiadh. This was built in low marshy ground, often near a river, where water was easily obtainable. After skinning the animals, they were wrapped in straw. A pit of water was heated to boiling by throwing rocks into it from the fire. It was kept hot by throwing more rocks in. For this reason, large mounds of burnt and shattered rocks mark Fulacht Fiadhs.

Artificial Islands known as Crannogs (Crann Óg = Young Tree) have been constructed from the Stone Age times, but the concept of a secure dwelling place, protected with a palisade, dates from around the first millennium AD. It is, in effect the rath in water, a safe habitation for a man and his family. The foundations of a Crannog usually consisted of layers of brushwood, sods or peat but all kinds of serviceable material such as stones and bones were also used. A timber palisade surrounded the island. Access to the crannog was by boat, as shown by the discovery of jetties and dugout canoes at some crannogs. Causeways were also used.

The Vikings
For the Vikings who lived by raiding and trading, sturdy ships were a necessity. The ship on the stocks has been modelled on an 11th century Viking ship found at Roskilde, Denmark, which was built in Ireland around 1060 AD.

From Norway, the Vikings had come to Ireland at the end of the 8th century, first for plunder, but later for trade and commerce. Soon they began to stay in Ireland during the winter. This meant setting up some sort of fortification to protect themselves and their ships. The settlement would have been surrounded by a wall and ditch. These gradually grew into bigger establishments, where trade was carried on. Slaves, wine, delicacies like figs and olives, and other luxury goods changed hands in return for the cowhides and products of Irish agriculture. In these way the first Irish towns, including Wexford, Waterford, Dublin and Limerick were established. The house reconstruction in the Irish National Heritage Park is based on one found in excavations in Wexford. They were rectangular, with post and wattle walls and a hipped roof. Inside, a central aisle ran from front to back, with seating/sleeping areas on both side, and a hearth in the middle. There was no chimney, but there was a smoke hole in the ridge.

Early Norman Period
The Normans arrived in Ireland in 1169 at the invitation of Dermot MacMurrough, deposed king of Leinster. They quickly established themselves as overlords in Eastern Ireland.

For these Early Normans, a castle was a status symbol as well as being a military strong point - it was built to be seen from afar. Gleaming white, and built on a hill, the whitewashed residence of the feudal lord stood out in the landscape, emphasising his dominance of the social and military scene. Lime-wash had been used in Ireland from at least the 8th century. An imposing gatehouse, reflecting the lord's importance and personality, gave entry to the bailey. The principal buildings within were the hall where the lord ate in public, held council, or delivered justice, the chamber block where the lord resided, the granary and the chapel.

From the Bailey a wooden footbridge led into the tower, the last line of defence. In the event of an attack the footbridge would be destroyed to prevent enemy access. They used wooden towers on top of large earthen mounds, known as Mottes, or fortified their strongholds by means of high palisaded earthen banks surrounded by deep ditches.

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