An Irish Cottage: A Living Time Capsule

During my trips to Ireland, I became intrigued by the ever-present bicycles. You could find these trusty rides nearly everywhere—leaning against pub walls, propped up outside shops, and even in large clusters on university campuses.

But it was this particular scene that made me pause and capture it. For me, the image is a sort of time capsule. The thatched roofs in Ireland date back to the Bronze Age, while bicycles were introduced to Ireland in the 1860s. The thick-walled cottage design itself has been around for about 400 years.

In North America, we often consider items over 100 years old to be antiques. In much of Europe, however, they might chuckle at this notion.