Describes the characteristics, as well as the gradual disappearance, of Irish vernacular architecture. The Irish rural dwelling has features in common with the general European type known to ethnologists as <i>ernhaus</i>. The distinctive Irish features include: a rectangular plan, divided into rooms the full width of the house and one leading off the other (no central hallway) thick strong stone walls; a steep sloped roof weighted on the longer outer walls; an open hearth; a chimney protruding through the roof ridge; usually only one story in height; and windows and doors on the side walls, not at the gable ends. These dwellings are most typical of the north and west of country (most of Ulster, all of Connaught, and the southwest of Munster) where the climate and landscape are most rugged. The emergence of an Irish thatchers' guild and attempts to provide folk park and tourist facilities provide some hope, although more sustained preservation efforts are necessary.