Backcountry Notes

Entry to Irish farmhouse. Click on any image to view a larger size.The buildings comprising the Frontier Culture Museum's Irish Farm originally stood in County Tyrone, Ulster (Northern Ireland).  The Ulster Plantation was designed by the English to establish an English-dominated, Protestant colony in Ireland. The "plantation" was a large chunk of the Emerald Isle containing nine counties and many towns and farms. Its colonization began, interestingly, in 1607, the same time when other colonists were establishing Jamestown in Virginia.

The English recruited colonists from western Scotland and from the borderlands above Hadrian's Wall, which had once separated Enland and Scotland; the border had been moved northward by conquest, and the inhabitants on the south side of the border were considered "English," but most of them shared a common heritage with the Scots on the north side.  Part of that heritage was a hard life in a challenging land. The promise of stability and some degree of freedom tempted many to migrate to Ulster.

Below: The Irish farmhouse is of the typical construction: cut stone, whitewashed, with a sod-and-thatch roof.  The small building on the right houses pigs - - real ones; the museum strives for authenticity - - and the aroma as one passes through the gate to the front door is unmistakably authentic.

Once they had settled in Ulster, the Scots found that they were expected to shed blood in battles against their Irish Protestant cousins but were penalized for their non-Anglican religion and relegated to second-class status.  When periodic droughts came to Ulster beginning in the early 18th century, the Irish Scots migrated to America in large numbers and shortly became the dominant ethnic group in the colonial Backcountry.

Below: The Irish farmhouse from another angle.  The pig house, center, has a fine thatched roof and a rock-walled sty.

One of the purposes of the Ulster Plantation was the production of linen.  Great Britain had built a profitable trade in textiles - - wool, wool cloth, and woolen clothing.  The British Isles are well suited to the raising of sheep and the exploitation of this resource was a material factor in the rise of the landed gentry of England and Scotland.  The English wanted to produce linen in Ulster in part to have another textile available for international trade and in part to suppress the Irish production of wool, thus keeping the price of English and Scottish wool higher.

Below: This huge fireplace is located in the main room of the house and is outfitted for cooking.  Linen has been hung on a clothesline to dry; to the right is the bed of the master and mistress of the house.

The Frontier Culture Museum's Irish Farm highlights the production of linen.  The farm stood on leased land, of course, the fee title being held by the English plantationers, and rent was due every three months.  To make the rent, the Ulstermen produced linen which they sold at local markets.

Below: The house has a stone floor, shown in this view.

The production of linen begins with a crop of flax.  The farm family harvested flax, which it spun into yarn, processed, and wove into rough cloth.  The linen cloth was then bleached by spreading it on damp grass and leaving it in the sun until it was white and softened.  The linen trade did flourish and Irish linen is still a valuable textile product. (For more on the linen trade, see the references listed below.)

Below: This view shows the underside of the sod-and-thatch roof, carried by purlins and massive timbers. For more on thatched roofing, see the article on the Irish Forge.

The spinning wheel is used to make flax into yarn.

A museum guide in period costume explains a step in the production of linen.

The loom is used to weave linen cloth.

The barn is constructed in the same manner as the house - - whitewashed stone walls with a thatch roof.