Baird's Print Shop
In the days long before photocopiers and digital printers, many Ulster towns had a jobbing printer.  Their job was to cater for the printing requirements of local institutions, businesses, politicians, clergy and local government.They printed everything from billheads, dockets and labels for...

Ballinderry House
One of the single storied houses in this small terrace from the village of Ballinderry, County Antrim, was, for a time, used as a blacksmith's forge.  The urban blacksmith was not very different from his rural counterpart. Work with horses still accounted for a major part of his business.As ...

Ballycultra Dispensary
The Ballycultra Dispensary is a representation of a traditional doctor’s Surgery and its’ associated medical Dispensary. This small town dispensary is housed in a plain terrace building consisting of three rooms; a Waiting room, the doctor’s Consulting room and the back room whi...

Ballyverdaugh National School
It may seem incredible to us today, but in the mid-1800s, most Ulster folk couldn’t read. However, because of National Schools, such as this one from County Antrim, the proportion of people over 5 years of age who couldn’t read or write dropped from 53% in 1841 to 14% in 1901.Ireland'...

Ballyvollen Houses
In 1905, one of these houses was occupied by Hugh McGarry and his wife Elizabeth.  They had married in 1904. Hugh was a fisherman and boat-builder, but he supplemented his income in summer by ferrying picnic parties across the Lough to Rams Island. The three houses are of great architectur...

Catholic Church
When the Catholic church of St John the Baptist was built in 1783, the Penal Laws which discriminated against all other religious denominations, particularly Catholics and Presbyterians, in favour of the Established Church, the Church of Ireland, were still in force, although being relaxed. The ...

Church of Ireland
At the time Kilmore Church was built in 1790, the Church of Ireland was still the Established Church in Ireland, and was supported by tithes.  This 10 per cent payment of the annual produce of land or labour was made to the church by the entire population, whether they belonged to it or not....

Cluan Place
Armagh and Hill Street, Newtownards, County Down. Looks can be deceptive.  Both these rows of houses may look completely authentic from the outside, but they have been fitted out internally to provide a modern 76-bed residential centre for educational groups visiting the Museum. The red b...

Corner Shop
The corner shop was the mainstay of many urban communities.  It offered longer opening hours than larger shops, and was convenient to where people lived. Very often the corner shop served a small number of streets, so the shopkeeper knew his customers, what they wanted and needed and what th...

Kelly's Coal Yard
With no coal reserves of its own, Ulster has imported coal from England since the 17th century. By the end of the 19th century coal had largely replaced turf (peat) as the main fuel used in Ulster towns, and the local coal merchant's was an increasingly common feature.   Coal was imported t...