MUCKROSS HOUSE AND FARM
One day while Dad went golfing, the rest of us rented bikes to ride around Killarney National Park! We had a bit of Irish luck with delightful weather – and we all really enjoyed ourselves!
We first rode along Lough Leane and Muckross lake, through the lush and green forests, and eventually left our bikes for a bit to walk up to Torc Waterfall.
Then we rode to Muckross House, a picturesque estate, with vines clutching the old brown bricks and large windows on the entire house. This house was first built for Henry Arthur Herbert and his wife. He even hosted Queen Victoria here! Years later, he went bankrupt and sold the property to Lord Ardilaun, a member of the Guinness brewing company. Ardilaun really enjoyed hunting, fishing, and shooting which explains the cabinets of rifles and deer and goat heads as decor! In 1911, Muckross was purchased by a wealthy American, William Bowers Bourn. He and his wife gave the property to their daughter and her husband as a wedding present. After the daughter unexpectedly died in 1929, her husband and parents presented Muckross House and its Estate to the Irish Nation. It became Ireland's first National Park in 1933. We toured the whole house, but I especially liked the servants’ quarters! They had a ginormous kitchen, with copper pots, very large mason jars, and wood burning stoves.
My favorite part of the day was when we went to the Muckross Traditional working farm, which replicated what Ireland farms looked like in the 1800s and 1900s. We saw small, medium, and big farms and houses:
Small House
The small house and farm probably only had 20 acres of land and small farm animals such as chickens, pigs, and 2 cows. The house was very tiny, with only two rooms: a kitchen with a sleeping area for the children, and a bedroom for the parents. Here we tasted homemade Irish soda bread that was made over the wood burning stove and fresh butter that was churned in the cottage! It was SO good!
Medium House
The medium house had three rooms: a kitchen, children’s room, and a parents' room. They had about 50 acres of land and more animals including goats, pigs, chickens and cows.
Big House
The people here had a good living, with a very large house with multiple rooms and many farm animals including horses, cows, sheep, chickens, goats, pigs, bunnies, donkeys, and Irish wolfhounds on more than 100 acres of land. They had lots of tools and money. They live a much more comfortable life compared to the owners of small and medium farms.
We visited the carpenter’s workshop and the blacksmith’s cottage. The carpenter and blacksmith were very important people in their community because they would fix anything that might break, particularly the tools necessary to farmers.
We also visited the schoolhouse, where it was mandatory for kids to get an education. There were typically two rooms, with two teachers who would teach a total of 80 children.
I loved our day and I felt like I was living like Anne of Green Gables and Laura Ingalls Wilder! This day was a lovely surprise – we were just expecting to spend the day riding through a park, but we got to experience estates and farms in the Irish countryside!