4
Thought-provoking Irish rural history museum with decent wheelchair access
This place caught our eye when we saw signs to it on our way to Malin Head (Ireland's most northerly point), and we were glad we went to have a look. "Famine Village" sounds a bit grim - and trust me, as a British visitor you will hear some stuff about your Victorian ancestors that does not make you proud - but it's as much a museum of Irish rural life in better times as a place that tells the story of a tragedy. A major bonus was the tour given by a man who had actually lived in one of the traditional houses there as a child in the 1970s and early 1980s, and he told us all about local customs, food and drink - even offering round samples of poteen, the potent Irish moonshine. As far as access goes, it was a bit tight at the entrance/shop area, but I was easily able to get into everywhere else on the site on my small scooter. There were wheelchair-accessible loos in the village site and the snack bar across the car park that were both a bit tatty but big and clean, and a highlight of the visit was that my scooter coped OK with the path across the beautiful sand dunes near the museum.
This place caught our eye when we saw signs to it on our way to Malin Head (Ireland's most northerly point), and we were glad we went to have a look. "Famine Village" sounds a bit grim - and trust me, as a British visitor you will hear some stuff about your Victorian ancestors that does not make you proud - but it's as much a museum of Irish rural life in better times as a place that tells the story of a tragedy. A major bonus was the tour given by a man who had actually lived in one of the traditional houses there as a child in the 1970s and early 1980s, and he told us all about local customs, food and drink - even offering round samples of poteen, the potent Irish moonshine. As far as access goes, it was a bit tight at the entrance/shop area, but I was easily able to get into everywhere else on the site on my small scooter. There were wheelchair-accessible loos in the village site and the snack bar across the car park that were both a bit tatty but big and clean, and a highlight of the visit was that my scooter coped OK with the path across the beautiful sand dunes near the museum.
