Nowadays, the thatched house is seldom seen in the Irish countryside, which makes it all the more appealing and evocative for the modern-day traveller to come across.

Such houses began to be built around the end of the seventeenth century, probably without foundations. Planning Permission and such bureaucracy was unheard of, and when somebody wanted to build a house, they would simply choose a site and enlist the help of friends and neighbours for the time it would take to build.

This event was no doubt a great source of excitement, and would be the main topic of conversation and speculation for miles around when the workload was shared...after all, many hands make light work!

The numerous old ruins, still to be seen in rural areas, show that many of the early homes were built within settlements or clochans - small clusters of houses in a farming community, where farmers worked the surrounding land.

Throughout the country, the ruined evidence of those small clusters can still be seen. Coming across their crumbling remains, it is hard to imagine that within these once solid walls, the laughter of children rang out - children who very often grew up to settle in every part of the globe. Some of their decendants may well be reading these pages right now!

In those far-off days, when the vast majority of native Irish were extremely poor, great value was placed on the strength of family and community support - a sentiment sadly becoming a thing of the past as we rapidly embrace the technicological rat-race.

A visit to Biddy and Joe's Cottage gives a more realistic picture of 'Old Ireland' than the romanticised image people are often given to believe. It makes us realise just how our ancestors survived the struggles of the recent past, using implements, which to us seem crude in the extreme, but to them, often luxuries many were unable to afford.

Here, you will find the ways of our ancestors...the backbone around which the Irish character was built.