Sligo Folk Park

Firstly can we take this opportunity to thank everyone who supported Santa town 2011, It has been one of the best years we have had.

As we begin the new year the Folk Park will remain closed to visitors for January & February as we prepare the park for the 2012 tourist season.

Millview Coffee Shop will also be closed during this time. We would like to thank its patrons for their support thoughout 2011.

We can facilitate groups for tours & meals by appointment during this period, please call Justin on 071 9165001 or email sligofolkpark@eircom.net

Riverstown will appear on Ireland West TV for the next three nights  (Tuesday November 8th – Thursday November 10th ) from 10 – 11 pm

Riverstown Enterprise Development (Sligo) Ltd are delighted to announce that on the occasion of the 10^th Anniversary of the Official Opening of Sligo Folk Park by President Mary Mc Aleese in 2001 a Celebration Lunch will be held in “The Street” Building of the Folk Park on Sunday October 16th from 1pm.

Tickets are available priced at €15 per Adult and are available from any Director of the Folk Park and at Millview Coffee Shop in the Folk
Park.

The afternoon will include a 3 Course lunch with a complimentary glass of wine and entertainment provided by Mary Rose and Enda which promises to be a great day out for all the family. Children, are most welcome but must be accompanied by a Guardian,

Afterwards why not relax and enjoy afternoon tea in the grounds of the Folk Park and enjoy a trip down memory lane with our Musueums, Exhibition Hall, Mrs Buckley’s Traditional Cottage, Millview House and fowl on display.

For further information please
contact The Sligo Folk Park on; Tel:071 91 65001  Mob: 0862356688 (Justin)

Email: sligofolkpark@eircom.net

“ARE YOU BEING NAUGHTY OR NICE ???? “

We are delighted to announce the dates for Santatown 2011 at Sligo Folk Park, Riverstown Co. Sligo.

Come and join us for an afternoon of fun and song and meet with Santa Clause.

Saturday December 10th      4 pm

Sunday December 11th          2 pm & 4 pm

Saturday December 17th       4 pm

Sunday December 18th          2 pm & 4 pm

Tickets   Children €15. to include Show & A Quality Present

Adults    €5.

Tea / Coffee and Christmas fare for purchase at the on site Millview Coffee Shop, Free Parking,

Enquiries to Josephine at 071 9167013 PRE BOOKING ESSENTIAL Lines are open daily from 10am – 9pm

View of Millview from Farm Yard

Come and see the fully restored Millview House, which originates from  the late 19th century. Here you can see, feel and even smell how life  was at the turn of the last century. Millview House is surrounded by  open workshops in which historical artefacts are restored to their  former glory.

A few words on the History of Millview House

“Millview House, Reids and Ryans ”

This Article was written for the “Moment in Time” booklet published to coincide with the official opening of the Folk Park in 2001.

The Author is Lorna Peel

MILLVIEW HOUSE, known locally as ‘Ryans’, is situated on  Coopershill townland in the parish of Kilmacallan. Millview was built to  replace a smaller, possibly thatched Cottage situated further back from  the road near the Unchin River. The house was built cl873 by George  Reid, a farmer and shoemaker. He was also Sexton of Taunagh Church of  Ireland from 1844 until at least 1854.           George Reid was born at Mount Talbot, south Co. Roscommon in  1810, the son of William Reid. A letter written by a Robert Reid in 1820  exists in the possession of a descendant of the family in England. In  it, Robert Reid enquires of the whereabouts of a relative. The letter  also includes a reference to some Reids who had been in the ‘Indies’,  but it is not clear whether he refers to the East or the West Indies.           The Elphin Diocese Marriage Licence Index includes a marriage  between a George Reid and a Mary Johnston in 1843. As George’s wife was  named Mary, it is probable that this was their marriage. Mary was a  seamstress and worked in Coopershill.            In 1853, an ejectment order was sought by Robert George Weir  in order to recover possession of Lakeview Estate (Lakeview House was  situated on Doongeelagh townland) from Lancelot Ormsby Weir, infant son  of the late William Weir and his wife Winifred Tivnan. Robert George  Weir alleged that William Weir had not been in a competent state of mind  when he married Winifred Tivnan and therefore any issue would not be a  lawful heir to the estate.           In March 1854, the case came before the Spring Assizes in  Sligo and George Reid, as Sexton of Taunagh Church, where William Weir  had married Winifred Tivnan in 1851, was one of the forty-five witnesses  called to testify. Reid’s evidence added weight to the medical evidence  that Weir had not been in a sound state of mind when he had married.  Reid testified that he had observed a difference in Weir’s conduct and  appearance from a year or two prior to the marriage and that Weir was in  a bad state of mind on the morning of his marriage. Reid’s evidence was  quoted in the Sligo Chronicle of 4 March 1854:-            ‘…I believed that he (Weir) was unsound, and am of the  opinion still. I expressed that opinion to the clergyman (Rev. Browne,  the Curate) in the church after the party went out. Mr. Browne shook his  head and said that as long as he was ordained he never witnessed such a  scene. I told the Curate that I thought the gentleman was not at all in  his right mind, and he replied ‘I perfectly agree with you’…’           After deliberating for five hours, the jury found in favour of  the Plaintiff, Robert George Weir. An application for a new trial was  granted, but the jury failed to reach a verdict at the trial and were  discharged. A third trial in 1855 found in favour of the Defendant,  Lancelot Ormsby Weir. George and Mary had nine known children – Ellen,  who married James Johnston of Drumfin, Co. Sligo but was originally from  Kilmacshalgan Parish, Co. Sligo; Mary Ann, who married James Poyntz, a  Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) Sub-Constable stationed in Riverstown and  later in Co. Donegal; Jane, who married James Boland, Schoolmaster at  Graniamore National School near Ballymote, Co. Sligo; William, Assistant  Superintendant in the Prudential Assurance Company in Dublin; Robert  who served in the RIC in Co. Antrim; Sara, a school teacher who did not  marry and who lived in Millview House until her death in 1933; Elizabeth  (Lizzie), who married James Ryan, a Sergeant in the RIC; John who died  of Typhus Fever in 1884, and George, the eldest brother, who emigrated  to New Zealand.           Two letters survive, written by Jane Reid to her cousin John  William Haworth in Manchester. The first was written in 1887 in reply to  John’s letter informing the Reids of the death of George’s brother  William. The second was written a year later from Graniamore National  School following her marriage to James Boland. The letters provide  information on the family and also on Millview House.           ‘…Father built a fine new house near the old one. We are  living in it now about seven years…it is much too large for us now  that we are so few but when he planned it he meant John to be his  successor but God willed it otherwise…’            Cousin John’s Grandmother appears to have been an Irwin,  probably of the family who lived at Carransprawn near Riverstown, as  Jane mentions this family in her second letter. Jane also mentions an  aunt, Eliza Stewart, who lived in Dublin with her husband and youngest  daughter. George Reid died in May 1891 his wife, Mary, in January 1892.  James Ryan was an RIC Pensioner by 1912 and died in February 1942.  Lizzie died in September 1934. They had had no children and Millview was  left to James’ nephew, William Ryan who subsequently lived there with  his wife Margaret, until their deaths in 1979 and 1987 respectively.  Lizzie James, William, and Margaret are buried in Carrownanty Graveryard  Ballymote, Co. Sligo.           Millview House was then purchased by Riverstown Enterprise  Development (Sligo) Ltd and served as its Head Quarters until 2001, when  the house transported back in time to the late 19th century.

The Restoration Project

The Restoration of the House commenced in October 2000. Prior  to the restoration work the House was used mainly as Office  Accommodation and for the Storage of more valuable artefacts.

The Work Starts

Following consultations with various Heritage Bodies and  other Experts it was decided to restore the external walls in the  traditional lime plastering finish. For this all old plaster had to be  removed painstakingly, joints had to be cleaned, re-pointed and filled  again. Following that a fairly lengthy process involved the 4 different  work stages:
1. Daubing (Brush & Lime Wash Walls)
2. Scudding
3. Scratch Coat
4. Wet Dash           As for the internal works a complete tidy-out had to take  place, including the removal of modern dry-lined walls, electrical  fittings, paints, etc. Extensive work was needed on many of the internal  walls and ceilings, which were damaged extensively by dampness and soot  from leaking chimneys.           During this work some interesting discoveries were made, i.e.  in total there were 4 fireplaces exposed, which were blocked up for many  years.           Further extensive work had to be carried out to all timber  structures, which had been badly affected by woodworm and wet rot.           Another problem area was the main roof and the two porches at  front and rear of the building. Cracked slates and rotten roof timbers  called for extensive restoration of same.                      Millview House is now as it was when George Reid first had it  built and now serves to show visitors to the Sligo Folk Park what life  was like for the Reid family when they first lived in the house nearly  one hundred and thirty years ago.

Mrs Buckleys Cottage, Sligo Folk Park. Please Click on Photo to see album

We have started to put up some photos of the Vintage Day, we will post more over the coming week.
If you have any you would like to share with us please email them to  riverstownvintagefestival@gmail.com