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_ _ The Irish National Heritage Park off the N11, at Ferrycarrig, just outside Wexford town, is the perfect place to find out about how the people of ancient Ireland lived, without having to search the countryside for their ancient remains. The Park, which opened ten years ago, has full sized models of Irish settlements throughout 9,000 years from the Mesolithic to Celtic, early Christian and Norman times. These include a hunter-gatherer campsite, an early farming settlement, a crannog, a model monastery, a ring fort, a motte and bailey and a souterrain. The settlements have been recreated as if they were in immediate use; animal skins cover the wooden framed tents, cooking pots hang over the fire and hand crafted tools lie around as if their ancient owners had just set them down a minute ago. The park also has exhibits, which show the preoccupations and customs of Ireland's first people, with full sized models of a Neolithic portal tomb, a religious stone circle and an ogham stone. It also has reproductions of the first tools the Irish invented for preparing and cooking food including a cooking pit, in which meat was cooked in water by throwing in stones heated over the fire, a corn drying kiln and a water powered corn mill. The Park also has a model Celtic farm, which has ancient livestock breeds similar to those which would have been raised in Ireland in Neolithic times, like Kerry cattle and Soay sheep. By the edge of the River Slaney there is a longboat and boathouse like those the Vikings used to carry out raids on parts of Ireland, which they had not already colonised. There is also a round tower, which was built on the site in 1857 as a memorial to the Wexford men who were killed in the Crimean War from 1854-55. A numbered walk guides you to the different settlements along a woodland path, or you can take the informative tour. The Park's visitors' centre shows a video giving a brief overview of Irish history, which prepares you for what you are going to see. The centre has café and shop. The Park also holds special events like Celtic banquets, traditional craft demonstrations, family fun days and educational visits led by guides in period costume. (Tel: 053 20733. Entry IR£3. Closed November to March).
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inis@irishnews.com or Tel: 01232 322226 |
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Irish National Heritage park
