Dick Clark: Hearths and Half Doors
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For many folk, no image of an Irish cottage would be complete without the traditional half door and certainly, none would have functioned without a hearty hearth at its core.
Our collection has many examples of intricately crafted "hearths and half doors!
From our collection we can see that the fireplace or hearth usually formed of stone and located at the very centre of the house with a bedroom behind it to further absorb the heat.
Initially, however, fireplaces were built of wattle and daub but these lost popularity with the introduction of the hotter burning fuel – coal. Using coal, usually local Irish brown coal (lignite) it was necessary to "stone' flues to prevent chimney fires.
The fireplace was the heart and soul of the cottage, about which daily life revolved – cooking, drying, heating and a focal centre for social gatherings.
The fire was never allowed to extinguish with ashes strewn over it at night to keep the embers alive for morning. The importance of the hearth in cottage life is illustrated in one of our most famous sayings, loosely translated as ‘there’s no place like home’, the actual literal translation is ‘there’s no fireplace like your own fireplace’
Although a central hearth was prevalent there are many examples of cottages where the hearth is located on a gable wall and yet more where they were at either end of the cottage – sometimes to heat a bedroom and other times purely for aesthetic reasons.
The hearth wall itself was usually very deep and extending to the ceiling with the chimney stack protruding further above the roof. As a result of this, the chimney wall is often one of the best preserved features of abandoned cottages today.
The Gable Hearth was typical of many found in the Sperrins area of Tyrone, Donegal and Derry.
Some had a draught screen wall with an observation window and opposite an outshot bed reserved for the senior members of the family.
The housewife always sits on the left of the fire so that she can swing the crane outwards with her left hand and stir the pots with her right.
If the hearth was the beating heart of a cottage it might be said that its mouth and nose were the traditional half doors through which air and life would pass in and out.
The ingenious half door became popular in Irish cottages in the early 19th century when there was a tax on windows.
It allowed light in and kept children in and farm animals out. The rear door was much less important and seldom used except, as most cottages were damp and stuffy as a result of small windows and smoke from the fireplace, to control the draught to the fire.
The general rule seems to be that the front door of the cottage faced south where elemental considerations allowed.
Some cottages had a door on either side which were used to outwit the prevailing winds!
It has been suggested, also, that the most important half door use was as a prop to lean on while smoking the pipe, gossiping with neighbours or shouting that the dinner was ready!
Almost without exception, Dick Clark's front doors, half door or not, were finished in strong, bright colours. Our feeling is that this deliberate choice may have been his adding a personal signature that brought light and gayety to his subjects.
LINKS: Completed Pages...
Coming (quite) soon...
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The "Big House" a Georgian Mansion
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Gate Lodges
On View in the Collection...
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Portrush Railway Station
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Dunluce Castle, Portrush
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Caravans
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Shops and Shopping
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On the Water
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You're Having a Laugh!
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