One of the last remaining mud houses in Clare being surveyed by an archaeologist
Johnnie McNamara was the last occupant of the house and is remembered in the living history of the area today
A partial mud (and stone) house in Clare is currently being surveyed by archaeologist Dave Pollock, prior to its deconstruction for road safety purposes and is noted as one of the last of its kind in the county.
The home of the late Johnnie McNamara, a bachelor farmer, in Tullaroe near Querrin, is a three-roomed single-storey mud, stone and concrete built house, which was thatched and has fallen into ruin since Johnnie's death in 1981 at the age of 95.
This is a vernacular house, which was built by the residents at the time using local materials and traditional techniques, and reflects on the specific cultural and environmental context of the area.
Historian Paddy Waldron explains that a house is shown on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of c.1840 at what has since become known as Johnnie Mack's Cross, it was then known as Behan's Cross and previously Eyres' Cross. Paddy has traced the inhabitants of the house and surrounding farm back to 1827, when the occupier was Thomas Eyres.
The farm descended in the female line through these three surnames, while others born here emigrated to various parts of the USA, where many of their descendants live today. In 1901, eleven people lived in the three rooms, including the McNamara parents; seven children and two of the wife’s siblings, John and Eliza Behan, who ran a shop across the road. Johnnie McNamara was the last occupant of the house and is remembered in the living history of the area today.
Paddy recalls that various local historians, such as the late Mary Teresa Hynes, Paddy Nolan, Pat Flynn, Sonia Schormann and his father, began to draw attention to the unique architectural features of the house from shortly after Johnnie's death.
Paddy Waldron said, "I have brought many tour groups here over the years, including a large international group during the 2013 National Famine Commemoration. Many participants were intrigued to see before their own eyes how the many mud houses left abandoned at the end of the Great Hunger had sunk back into the landscape, leaving no trace."
Archaeologist Dave Pollock explained that mud houses are very rare in Ireland: "We do not know of many of these mud houses still standing, but there could be a handful still lived in, that look like the stone cottage next door."
Robert Brown, the Querrin Community Development Group and the Kilkee Heritage and History Group are organising an evening of reminiscing on Thursday, May 8 at 8pm in Myles Creek on O'Curry Street, Kilkee.
On the night, Paddy Waldron will give an overview of the family history of the people who lived in the house. The survey of the mud and stone house and its deconstruction and proposed reconstruction will be explained, followed by a general discussion about the neighbourhood, traditions and customs of the time.
All are welcome, but anyone with memories of the McNamara family are especially encouraged to attend.