We sometimes imagine the past in a simplistic and romantic way. However, life in rural Ireland was a struggle. For most, it was a life of hard toil. Disease was rife, diet was poor and survival was very much dependant on a detailed knowledge of the landscape and environment; craft, skill and ingenuity.

This way of life changed little over many hundreds of years and its continuity is evident in the similarities between recently-made objects and their counterparts made long ago.
Romance and Reality also highlights the contrasts between folklife and folklore. It shows that folklife deals with objects, the skills needed to produce them and their place in the lives of the people; while folklore deals with stories, myths and traditional beliefs outside formal religion.