Curragh Village, Ardmore Bay, County Waterford, 1943: Architectural Drawings of Irish Traditional Houses

County Waterford, Curragh - Plan, front elevation, section, and drawings of furniture, pottery, glass and fireplace equipment

Measured by John Cumming, Patrick Hamilton, and Robin Walker. Drawn by Robin Walker, 1945. Watercolour board, pencil, black drawing ink Height 706mm, Width 493mm.

The village of Curragh was an Irish speaking village with a declining population at the time of the survey. This was the home of the Ryan family. The house contains a number of different types of seating:  two stools known as creepies, a carpenters chair and a settle-bed. The surveyors record a lot of the house furniture and fittings details as well as the locally produced Waterford glass and Youghal pottery jugs.  Two beds each covered with an arch were known here as car beds and were an older style of bedding at the time of the survey. Covered beds created a micro-climate and would keep the sleeper dry from possible rain that may fall through the thatch.

John Cumming, Patrick Hamilton and Robin Walker (later of Scott, Tallon and Walker Architects),  surveyed the 38 houses in the village of Curragh, Co. Waterford during the summer of 1943 when they were architect students at University College Dublin.

The houses of Curragh were a mixture of one, two or three roomed homes at the time of the survey. Built of stone and yellow clay,  most of the houses were whitewashed on the outside. 
According to a report by Robin Walker in the Irish Times of July 9th 1943, the surveyors found ‘fine specimens of early nineteenth-century carved dressers and settles, rich with classical decoration’. The dressers had carved pillars at the side crowned with cornices, and decorated panelling on the lower portion. The surveyors also noted old style canopied beds, known as ‘covered cars’ in many houses.

Today, the sites of this well situated village are highly sought at prices unimaginable to the original dwellers.