The Irish Times

In the gift shop at Bunratty Castle Folk Park, a faded vision of Ireland is up for grabs, purchased by Laser card and preserved in bubble wrap. Medium-sized shillelaghs? Not a problem. "Authentic" Aran sweaters? Second shelf on the right. "Luck of the Irish" tea towels? Just in stock. It's easy to be cynical. In many ways the medieval castle and folk park is the Graceland of Irish heritage, a place where tourists can sample the real Ireland for a day, without having to waste petrol looking for it. Yet when it comes to an iconic image of Ireland, this park, and others like it, could soon be the only places preserving an age-old tradition. Thatched cottages have been as much a part of Ireland's image as shamrocks and stew, yet there is increasing concern that thatching in Ireland is in a state of terminal disrepair. A 2005 Department of the Environment report estimated that 1,300 thatched dwellings survive in Ireland, marking a dramatic rate of decline in a little over a generation. The report highlighted a real crisis in the survival of historic thatch, arguing that without action, "it is possible to say that outside of folk museums, very little historic thatch will soon be left". Many feel this decline has been accelerated by a general unwillingness to associate post-Celtic Tiger Ireland with a less sophisticated past. Tied in with this too are practical reasons, as architect Willie Cummings points out. "One of the problems is that these houses directly reflected a lifestyle and farming practice of a particular era, and that's gone now. So we are trying to protect this tradition without the apparent economic reasons to sustain it."