BLEACHFIELD HERITAGE MUSEUM GROUP PACKAGES

Your Visit Includes:
Guided Tour of Bleachfield Heritage Museum
Kerry’s only Subterranean Museum featuring original & restored
artefacts dating over 5 millennia
Film of the Story of Milltown & Rural Ireland’s Traditional Way of Life

A Choice of Morning or Afternoon Snacks or Traditional Lunch in our Bleachfield Bistro

Morning Visit
Your snack includes Freshly Brewed Tea or Coffee with Freshly Baked Scones, Cream & Jam
€6.00pp

Lunch Visit
Cottage Pie
Or
Smoked Haddock Pie
**
Apple Crumble with Custard with
Choice of Tea / Coffee
€12.00pp

Afternoon Visit
Your snack includes Open Brown Bread & Smoked Salmon with Freshly Brewed Tea or Coffee
€8.00pp

Read on to learn a little of our History
The original site on which Bleachfield stands today was home to some of Ireland’s earliest human settlers. During excavations of the site, an underground passageway was re-exposed - revealing a spring well that goes back in use approximately 3,500 years. Bleachfield's site also has samples of ash and oak trees which were the natural timber providers to the valley’s inhabitants over thousands of years.

We know that our ancestors also dined well and utilised the produce of nature locally to their full advantage! The Maine river has salmon and trout in abundance! Wild berries and herbs are also in abundance in the woods and thickets locally. Seaweeds, lichens and mosses abound along the seashore of Callinafercy and Inch. For special occasions such as festivals, weddings or to mark victories; woodcocks, pigeon, duck and deer would have been on the menu. All these game are still very much part of our local wildlife today.

Re-trace your Irish Ancestry ... Milltown’s oldest family names, O’Connell, McCarthy and O’Connor, would have been the first fort inhabitants. They lived by hunting, fishing and plant roots. Stone-Age implements were used by these people.

Later the Celts invaded and brought bronze implements. Around 1,000 BC, it is reputed that mythical characters Oisin and Cu Cullen were visitors to the area. The Druids were the religious and medical people who with their natural cures and magic were the consultants to the leaders of the era. The stars, moon and tides were of huge importance, and had to be studied by them before decisions of importance were taken. There is no evidence of Viking history or raids locally.

Christianity would have been in Ireland 300 years before it permeated to our little valley of Milltown in the Kingdom of Kerry. Conversion occurred locally from 600 to 1,300 AD approximately. The old Abbey is only 10 minutes drive from the Bleachfields site. Normans then invaded and the building of stone castles and houses developed. Flax growing was developed very successfully in Milltown around 1,400. Milltown Linen was much sought after and was exported to France and Spain, where it graced the houses of Royalty. We have on site a sample of Milltown grown flax and also an original 500 year old piece of Milltown Linen.