VERNACULAR 1700 - Present

Definition

‘Rural vernacular or traditional architecture is the construction of small plain buildings in the countryside (particularly before 1925) where the dominant influence in siting, materials, form and design is the local folk tradition. Such vernacular buildings will have been typical (of a common type in a given locality) and will lack the individualistic and educated design features that characterised international fashions in formal architecture during the same period.’
[Philip Robinson, Chairman, Historic Buildings Council of Northern Ireland (1991-4)]
[link to Perspective article July/August 1993. Volume 1 no. 6]

The landlord was usually responsible for urban development from 1700. His house and that of the merchants tended to be of a more formal type of architecture. Urban buildings for the poor were thatched cabins of mud and stone, similar to rural vernacular buildings, while tradesmen lived in small, plain houses.