3. What they are made out of House built of Stone & Mud. Thatched roof which is fastened together in bundles usually about 2 feet in diameter or around. They are laid on the roof with the butt end facing out and then secured to the beams of the roof. Then they are pegged into place with wooden rods. Layers are added on top of each other and it is finished with a layer secured to the ridgeline of the roof.
4. What they can endure and replacements. Can endure heavy winds and rain and lasts for a long time. Requires very little maintenance. It will have to be reridged several times in the lifetime of the roof, probably every 15 years. When the reridging is done it usually has the wire netting renewed. You usually replace the whole thatched roof when the fixings are close to the surface because eventually it wears out. Thatch should be at least a foot thick.
5. Additional info about the house Thatch roofs were what were mainly used in Ireland. The thatch is a good insulator and helps keep the house warm and cool. The house is built with a double wall of dry stone walls which are packed with dirt and have wooden rafters covered with thatch made of cereal straw and reed. The floor is made of flagstones with dirt in the spaces where the stones didn’t touch. There is a fireplace in the center for the fire for heat and for cooking. But there is no chimney. The smoke goes up and out through the roof. The roof is low and rounded. Has 2 rooms. 1 for sleeping and one for cooking, eating and socializing.
6. Weather Climate is mild Average temp in July is 68 and in January is 39 ( the highest temp ever was 89 and the lowest was 11 so the thatched roof helps keep the house insulated and the fire in the center helps keep it warm
7. Daily hardships Water has to be carried from the spring and food is cooked on the fire in the center of the house. There isn’t much in the way of sanitation other than cleaning things with salt water or liquor which has alcohol in it but this wasn’t used on the food to kill things it was used to add flavor or just to cook with if it was used at all. It has very small windows and only 2 of them. Some houses have a few more windows but not many. Thatch was used to pull down a covering for the windows to help keep the cold out. Had 1 door and this was made of wood and attached. Some were made of thatch like material also.
8. In our town This type of house could probably be used her in Caldwell County. It would survive the cold and it might keep cool enough. We have the materials to do the thatched roof and windows and have wood for the fire place. We would only have to adapt the house now to have glass windows and maybe a chimney for the fireplace and have a few more rooms added to it. We already have some stone houses here and they do well even though that have regular roofs and not thatched roofs or at least most of them don’t have thatched roofs. We can learn that these houses have survived for hundreds of years and are sturdy and have fairly decent insulation. The roofs need some repair but they don’t need a whole lot of work done.
9. History House reference List http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/culture_of_Ireland http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/cottage www.irelandseye.com www.angelfire.com www.iol.ie/~dluby/ireland.htm www.limerickslife.com www.pasthomes.com www.localhistories.org/limerick.html http://www.connorsgenealogy.com/LIM
