 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Greenan Farm Museum and Maze
Greenan Farm Museum and Maze can be found just two miles from the lodge. Turn right out of Glenmalure Pines, right again at the bottom of the road, then go across the bridge in Greenan and straight through the cross-roads towards Aughrim. The farm is well sign-posted on the left.
Greenan
maze is a considerable challenge. Water flows through it to a pond in
the middle and beyond to the pond in the rear. This is one of the very
few mazes open to the public in Ireland.
The
old Greenan farmhouse dates from the 16th Century and was a safe-house
for Michael Dwyer in 1798. It was last lived in by the seanchai
Tom O'Neill. The kitchen features the original fireplace and earth floor.
The main bedroom and the Bottle Museum are upstairs.
Traditional farmhouse furniture and utensils, including dairy items and butter churns, are on display.
.
The
main bedroom.
The Greenan Bottle Museum are upstairs. The Bottle Museum was established
in 1985 and holds a very large collection of antique 19th and early 20th
century bottles, some of which were dug up on the farm. The oldest bottle
in this impressive collection dates from 1807.
The
Greenan Farm Museum is situated in the large barn. At the centre of a
working hill-farm, it has been designed to exhibit implements and tools,
some of which date back to the Famine. The ground floor contains a fine
collection of hourse-drawn implements, from ploughs and harrows to carts
and traps.
On
display upstairs are farm tools and the blacksmith's, cartwright's, carpenter's
and cooper's trades. There are also many other items of interest.
There is also a farm walk that leads to three small lakes in a wildlife sanctuary on a wooded area of the farm, where deer, duck and other creatures live. It returns through paddocks where the farm animals can be seen. Much tree planting has been done. More than one hundred different species are already planted. Some notable specimens include the Handkerchief Tree (Davidia Involucraia), Weeping Silver Lime (Tilia Tomentosa), Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia Glystroboides), Oak plantations and many species of Maple. The aim is to create an arboretum for future generations.
A traditional Irish cottage close to the Old Farmhouse contains the tea-rooms. Morning and afternoon teas, light lunches and refreshments are available.
Finally, the Green Wheel Craft Shop specialises in top quality Irish Handmade Arts & Crafts