I am doing a thesis in Birmingham England, on the protection of the Irish cottage (vernacular architecture).(ie) Is it under threat,How and what if anything is being done to protect it?
I would greatly appreciate any comments ,suggestions or directions on this subject from any source.(joeduffyok@hotmail.com)

if you are looking for people to talk to speak with
director of johnastown museum
austin o sullivan 053 42888
he's very interested in conservation of such maybe he can help!

If you are including the north of ireland in your thesis -The Environment and Heritage Service NI, has produced a booklet "A sense of Loss - the survival of rural traditional buildings in northern ireland" which may be of some interest. SAVE Britain's Heritage also produced a publication "Blink and you'll miss it" although dealing with the threat of the architectural heritage as a whole - the vernacular gets a particular mention. Caroline Maguire, a conservation architect based in Northern Ireland completed a Alan Gailey scholarship in Vernacular Architecture and published her findings which would also make useful reading.

[This message has been edited by sinead (edited 11 December 2001).]

have you explored the influences behind the evolution of the cottage, the implications of window taxes etc on the design evolution of what we refer to as a 3 room cottage, the half door being abandoned, the introduction of building materials as apposed to the date of their introduction.
It is my opinion that Irish cottages and their design have been formulated by norwegian, and north european influences early in our history..
it would be great to see a research linked graph of change V acknowledge design standards to pinpoint the year that the cottage became "Vernacular" ... and why as a country are we trying to echo this "date" by introducing such things as cross bar windows with bungalow bliss type structures ?
Dates & Facts may prove that our home grown architectural vernacular isnt ours at all!..
why has our definition of Vernacular not altered and when was the term introduced as a means of judging precedent ? ...big questions , big answers, honesty about our architectural history will show a pattern of repetative structures and the discouragement of change ... not something to be promoted