A young family hoping to spend more time in Co Mayo start off by exploring the area around Swinford. Bright yellow signposts lead them to Hennigan's Centre in Killasser, run by local historian Thomas Hennigan. Tickets for the tour bought, they sit outside and admire the fine collection of quern stones, and a garden full of carrots. The two-year-old is particularly taken with a pair of late swallows swooping in and out of an outhouse with food for a chirruping nestful of young - a second brood, the parents think.
The tour begins in Mr Hennigan's old family home, a traditional whitewashed cottage dating from the mid-19th century, where his own family lived until the early 1970s. When last inhabited, the six children slept in the bedroom to the left of the front door - a newly walled-off area formerly used for livestock. The grandmother slept in the bedroom at the opposite end of the house in a clean, brightly whitewashed room: and the parents slept in the kitchen in a curtained-off alcove bed, otherwise called a hag's bed, or cailleach. The colourful curtains and carefully arranged delft on the dresser are testament to a house proud mother. Objects pointed out include a bird-trap and a birdcage made by the children and a tin bath for the Friday night ablutions. The half-door is explained as being a way to cheat the window tax. The cottage has been left as it was when last lived in, except that the concrete floor - put in by Mr Hennigan's father - has been replaced by a stone floor, for greater authenticity. Local advice at the time of relaying was that the hearth-stone should have an object under each corner, including a flint and a penny, so that visitors would always have health and wealth on leaving the house. There are now plans afoot to lay a horse's head under the large flag stone in the centre of the room, to give a good echo when danced on. The tour moves from the cottage into the museum itself, which houses a fine collection of local memorabilia, agricultural and trade implements, including the original famine pot from Swinford workhouse, a 19th-century washing machine, spinning equipment, and the contents of a cobbler's shop. There is also a poitin still, a collection of agricultural machinery, and turf-cutting implements.
The visiting family was sadly unable to appreciate the tour in its entirety, as the pigsty outside proved an irresistible attraction to the youngest member, and repeated visits had to be made. Well worth a visit. Telephone 094/52505.