Six houses from Sandy Row in Belfast are to have a new home at the Ulster Folk Museum.
Many houses in Sandy Row, the heartland the loyalist community in south Belfast, are to be demolished. There are plans for six terraced houses on Roland Street that are being carefully taken down to be reconstructed ten miles away at the Ulster Folk Museum in Cultra, County Down. The museum has decided that the architecture of Sandy Row is worth preserving.
Dr Philip Robinson who is supervising the project is attempting to recreate the early 19th century environment in which the houses were built. The Ulster Folk Museum has already taken buildings, including farmhouses and water mills, from other parts of Northern Ireland and rebuilt them at the site in a proper environmental context. Until now the museum has concentrated largely on rural buildings. Now is will create a village which will include buildings that represent industrialisation alongside a church, a school and other commercial buildings.
The Sandy Row houses will be part of this village.
The Ulster Folk Museum was offered the Roland Street houses by the housing executive. Dr Robinson acknowledges that in situ restoration is the best approach. He explains that the Roland Street houses are of interest for the building traditions behind them and what they represent. The houses were being demolished anyway as part of the redevelopment plan for the Sandy Row area and do not have the basic amenities for modern living.
The Sandy Row project is the first attempt by the museum to preserve Northern Ireland's urban heritage.
The Roland Street houses should be ready for visitors by next summer.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 3 June 1975. The reporter is Forbes McFall.
