Restoration of Two Vernacular Cottages: The Owners’ Perspectives

Crucknamara Cottage

Our first talk will centre on Crucknamara Cottage in Co. Donegal; the contemporary reconstruction of a North-West Irish longitudinal byre house. In the 2010s, Tara and Geoff Brooks undertook an unexpectedly involved rebuild of a traditional vernacular cottage that dated from before the famine. Although the cottage had experienced significant neglect, the Brooks family successfully developed a practical holiday home whilst retaining a traditional building in an area of Donegal increasingly subject to ‘bungalow blight’. The talk will look at the building’s history, its place in the Rosguill Peninsula and the compromises involved in restoring the cottage’s fabric; a feat Tara and Geoff have expertly and sensitively accomplished.

Phyllis’s Cottage

The focus of the second talk will be Phyllis’s Cottage in Crumlin. We will learn of the lows and highs of the acquisition and restoration of Norman and Elizabeth McBride’s lough-side gem, managed whilst they were coping with the effects of Brexit, COVID and local bureaucracy. Happily, despite what they describe as their naïve approach, the McBrides have not only kept their sense of humour but are still speaking to each other. They have achieved a magnificent restoration and Phyllis’s Cottage is now enjoying a new lease of life as holiday accommodation.

Members: £12 | Non-members: £15 | Students: £6

Wine reception: 6.30 – 7 pm.  Lecture to start promptly at 7:00 pm.

The Old Museum Building, 7 College Square North, Belfast BT1 6AR

Please note that due to the historic nature of The Old Museum Building, access is via a flight of stone steps.
We regret that it is currently unsuitable for wheelchair users.