IRISH NATIONAL HISTORIC MUSEUM

This is the another part of our trip to Wexford. We stopped at The Irish National Historic Museum, which is an outdoor museum. We got to see a film first then wandered through the villages. We could have joined a tour, but the lady at the desk said it was a French tour so we didn't go with them. Later we caught up with them and found the guide speaking English, but they took about 4 times longer than we did, so we were glad we just went on our own. They had umbrellas you could pick up at the door and then return when you finished. It was sprinkiling when we left so I got one, then only used it about a minute and it didn't rain anymore. These are not actual villages, but replicas. I thought they were very interesting. It was quite a hike to go see all 3 villages, the Viking Shipyard and the Norman Castle and Round Tower. They also had a very nice tourist shop and a restaurant.

This is the first village. This second picture shows how the huts were built.


This is a Dolman. They would take three stones and stand them up and put another one on top. Then inside was a grave.



A Standing Stone

This ring of stones usually was a site for some kind of ceremonial rite. I thought this was very interesting, and if you look at the top of the picture, you will see two stones that looked to me like the entrance to the circle of stones. The two stones are sort of under the trees in the shade so are not as visible as the others.

This is an Ogham Stone. I am pointing to the markings on it. The next picture shows the alphabet they used. The way they made the markings determined what letter it was.


This is the second village


This is a plow


Inside one of the huts

This is a church.





This is a horizontal water mill. It also shows the hopper and grinding stone inside the mill.


Last Village


This is a Viking shipyard.





These pictures are a replica of a Norman Castle and Round Tower.