🌿 This #WorldEnvironmentDay, take a walk with us through the Ulster Folk Museum. Aren't we lucky to have this beautiful natural heritage site right on our doorstep? 🌸 #WED2026

🧵Last week, we got the chance to explore the archives of our museum's founders. Before our first cottage opened in 1963, they visited open air and folk museums across the UK, Europe & the world. They brought back with them not only new ideas and friendships, but also pamphlets. Very cool pamphlets.

We've all been stung before, but #BeNiceToNettlesWeek is a time to appreciate that from soup to clothing, nettles can do it all! 📝 Textile artist Lyndsey McDougall shared with us her technique for turning nettles into fabric dye - including a step by step guide! → bit.ly/DyeingWithNe...

Hot, fresh soda bread, anyone? 🍞 If you tried your hand with buttermaking last week, maybe it's time to give soda bread a try... You only need four ingredients: plain flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt and buttermilk → bit.ly/3RBmqLm #FarlFriday #FoodHeritage #IrishRecipes

It’s No Mow May @ulsterfolkmuseum.org & lots of native wildflowers are popping up. Let us know what’s growing in your local no mow patch on the iRecord app or CEDaR Online Recording!

Druid is a touring theatre company based in the west of Ireland. For those of us who experienced a wonderful and baffling few minutes thinking that the University of Galway was hiring a druid.

After watching our incredible visitor guides make their own butter (🤯), we found these delightful photographs in our archives that give a glimpse into a past life of butter making. Please note: these days, we do not recommend you put sour milk under your bed. For any reason.

🧈 It’s simpler than you’d think - just double cream, salt and a pinch of patience. This is butter making, the traditional way. Watch the full video → bit.ly/4tJYHXy #FoodHeritage #ButterMaking #HowTo

#HappyBealtaine from the Ulster Folk Museum 🌼 ☀️ Bealtaine, also known as May Day, marked the beginning of summer. Read more about May Day Traditions with Senior Curator of History, Victoria Millar → bit.ly/4ujbXlS #UlsterFolkMuseum #MayDay #QuarterDays

📸 Taken in 1961, this photograph shows the original entrance to the #UlsterFolkMuseum. Discover the story behind the Ulster Folk Museum on a guided walking tour on Saturday 9th May → www.ulsterfolkmuseum.org/whats-on/beh... HOYFM.L.10.13

Did you know we have a Teachers Panel? This year, we’d love to hear from more Irish‑medium primary teachers. Are you free after school on Thursday 7 May? 🕓 4.00–5.30pm 📍 Ulster Folk Museum If you’re interested in taking part, we’d love to hear from you: forms.cloud.microsoft/Pages/Respon...

What better way to spend a sunny spring Saturday than strolling around the Ulster Folk Museum at Leaf and Lore – a guided walk discovering Ireland’s native trees and the folklore that surrounds them. Happening tomorrow, Sat 25th April! Book your tickets - www.ulsterfolkmuseum.org/whats-on/lea...

"All the world's a stage, and all the men and weemin merely players..." In 1964, G.B. Adams recorded 7 people from different counties reading one of Shakespeare's most famous monologues. Gather round as the men and women of Ulster take to the stage → bit.ly/4vFaJTs #Shakespeare #ButMakeItUlster

🍃 Life is like the Seasons by Caroline Watson, 1983. Caroline's poem will guide you through the colours of Autumn, the snow-topped pine trees of Winter, finishing with a promise of a soft, green Spring - the season we are all yearning for. #SoundArchive #UlsterFolkMuseum

Have you ever heard of an #EasterCakeDance? 🎂💃 During the Easter festivities, some families enjoyed dancing outdoors if the weather was nice. This sometimes took the form of a contest where a large, specially baked cake was the prize. This Easter dance contest was called a “cake dance”.

From all of us at the Folk Museum (and also the grown-up Teletubby baby), happy Easter! 🥚: A cardboard Easter egg from Sloan's Draper's shop in Kilkeel, HOYFM.159.1982B.

🥚 #Easter was generally perceived as a hopeful and joyous time of the year. Along with the longer days and brighter nights it brought a sense of the ‘new’. Read more about Easter Traditions → bit.ly/3QggJ4M Pictured - A Nostalgic Easter; Quilling, Making Easter Bonnets

Last week 60 amazing volunteers planted 1000 native trees @ulsterfolkmuseum.org 🌳 Thanks to everyone who was involved & also @tcvnational.bsky.social, Woodland Trust & National Museums NI. Happy to see oak, hazel, alder, cherry & rowan saplings in our woodland ahead of international day of forests🌱

🌱 Untitled (Springtime in Ireland) by Caroline Watson, 1983. In our Sound Archive, we're honoured to have a recording of Caroline Watson reciting her poetry. This one was inspired by #spring in Ireland. As our days are getting warmer, brighter & longer, we're delighted to share this gem with you 🌸

🏆 Congratulations to Jessie Buckley for winning Best Actress at the #Oscars! No Hamnet spoilers, but we were excited to spot a straw knot during an emotional scene. We asked our talented Visitor Guide Margaret to see if she could help us recreate this Oscar-worthy knot. #HarvestKnot #HamnetKnot

This handkerchief tells of a small but significant act of Mother Mary Smith to uplift Irish women in the 1800s. The handkerchief has a border of Youghal needlepoint lace. Youghal lace was developed by Mother Smith of Presentation Convent, Youghal, to provide employment for women in the local area.

Born 175 years apart, we brought together two folk bards from County Down through our Library and Archives. Experience folk singer-songwriter Joshua Burnside (b.1989) and Robert Huddleston (b.1814) through music and storytelling in ‘The Folk Bards of Ulster’. www.ulsterfolkmuseum.org/stories/folk...

The first signs of spring @ulsterfolkmuseum.org Lesser celandine, with its yellow flower & heart shaped leaves signifies “joys to come”. It’s one of the first pollinator food sources to emerge after winter! Last spring we received 105 records of Ficaria verna. Let us know if you see it this year!

📷 Rowland Street/Tea Lane, June 1974 This terrace of six houses were built in the late 1820s on Rowland Street, off Sandy Row. They were dismantled and moved to the Folk Museum in 1976. Join Victoria Millar, Senior Curator of History, for a talk on the Tea Lane Houses → bit.ly/4b3rgYa

What do you call a young cow? 🤔🐄 This map illustrates what people call cattle across Ulster. It looks as though this map may not be fully complete - is the key unfinished? What names would fill in the gaps? #UlsterFolkMusuem #DialectArchive #Maps #YoungCow

Our lovely Visitor Guide Suzanne is back! This time she's making a four-armed St. Brigid's Cross 😍 Read more about St. Brigid's Day and watch our longer tutorial video → bit.ly/49Pv3ZF #StBrigidsDay #StBrigidsCross #StBrigid

💥🔨 Spend some time in the forge with our #HeritageBlacksmith Matthew Walton, as he shows us how to make a copper bowl and steel bottle opener. Watch the full video → bit.ly/4r9BwnY #Blacksmithing #HeritageSkills

Feeling the effects of Blue Monday? Worry not - spring is close enough to touch 🫴🌱 Longer days, warmer nights, flowers blooming, and roosters crowing. (Although, the roosters do that throughout winter, too.) #BlueMonday

How many doors does your kitchen have? 🤔 This map from 1961 illustrates places in Ulster where people had one door into their kitchen, or two. We can't quite figure out the meaning of semicircle in the key - do any of you have one and a half doors into your kitchen? #UlsterDialect #Maps

🔥 Looking for a slow-paced #craft to keep you occupied by the fire this winter? Join our talented Education Assistant Hannah Ferguson and learn about the art of making a #RagRug, and how to keep this tradition alive → bit.ly/HowTo-RagRug

Samhain Stories from the Sound Archive | EPISODE 4 Our fourth episode of spooky stories from the archives is all about the banshee, whose wails warned that death was near 😱 Have you heard the banshee's lonely cry? #Halloween #Samhain #Folklore

Samhain Stories from the Sound Archive | EPISODE 3 Introducing the third episode of spooky stories from the archives - we're making a return to GHOST STORIES 👻 We've taken a deep dive into hours of oral history recordings to hear from voices past about the ghosts of Ulster. #Halloween #Samhain

Samhain Stories from the Sound Archive | EPISODE 2 Introducing our second episode of #spooky stories from the Sound Archive, all about THE DEVIL 😈 We've taken a deep dive into hours of oral history recordings to hear from voices past, sharing their stories about the Devil... #Halloween #Samhain

Samhain Stories from the Sound Archive | EPISODE 1 Introducing our new series on spooky stories from the archives, and our first episode is on GHOSTS 👻 We've taken a deep dive into hours of oral history recordings to hear from voices past about the ghosts of Ulster. #Halloween #Samhain

This past month has seen a flourishing of #fungi at the Folk Museum - including a sighting of Dead Man's Fingers, the most fiendishly-named fungi 🍄 Explore some of the fungi to keep your eyes peeled for on a hair-raising Hallowe'en walk → bit.ly/Fiendishfungi #UlsterFolkMuseum #Halloween

Sparks flying, fire roaring, bells ringing - are we describing love or a day in the forge? 💥🔨 When it comes to Matthew's work as a blacksmith, it's both. #HeritageSkills #Blacksmithing #HandForged

The Lace Collection 🤩 Hear more from Curator of Textiles @valeriewilson.bsky.social, at the Folk Museum's Textile Takeover this Saturday, 11th October → bit.ly/46I3U9u #TextileTakeover #IrishLace #BobbinLace #CrotchetLace #CarrickmacrossLace #LimerickLace

Watch as our visitor guide Suzanne makes a harvest knot, also known as a compass weave plait, or our favourite - a love knot. ❤️ Watch the full video → bit.ly/4pxe6Jm #UlsterFolkMuseum #Harvest #HarvestSeason #HarvestKnots #LoveKnot #History #IrishHistory

"Bringing home the taties" 📷 Photographed near Newcastle, Co. Down. Photo by William Green. 🍂 Explore the #HarvestSeason and book tickets to our harvest experience on Saturday 20 September → bit.ly/3VeB3mI #UlsterFolkMuseum #Harvest #LammasDay #IrishHistory

If you missed Saturday's 'Home in Focus' with Senior Curator of History, Victoria Millar, you can still explore the 18th century farmhouse Coshkib Hill Farm, and learn about the family long associated with it, the Hyndmans, on our website → bit.ly/Coshkib_Hill...

Join us on the 5th of September at 2pm outside Ballycultra Tearoom at @ulsterfolkmuseum.org to learn about local wildlife and how to record it! Get tickets: www.ulsterfolkmuseum.org/whats-on/wil... #biologicalrecording #NorthernIreland #belfast #museum

Join me on Saturday 6th September at 11.30am for a Homes in Focus talk at Coshkib Hill Farm @ulsterfolkmuseum.org - last couple of tickets remaining! Visit: www.ulsterfolkmuseum.org/whats-on/hom...

Go behind the loom with our weaver Roisin as she shares about the craft of linen weaving and her journey of learning how to use a loom → bit.ly/4fCrDe8 #HeritageSkills

Go behind the scenes in our Heritage Carpenter's workshop. Learn about the craft of carpentry, and why #HeritageCarpenter Peter Sloan loves his job. Watch the full film here → bit.ly/4m2TiHn #UlsterFolkMuseum #Carpentry #HeritageSkills #Woodworking

Lammas Day, or #Lughnasadh, is a traditional harvest festival celebrated on 1st August. It marked the beginning of the harvest season, and the first potatoes were often harvested and enjoyed. Follow along with our Heritage Farmers Robert and Pamela as they harvest the first crop → bit.ly/3Hawvdw

Lovely to meet the two newest recruits @ulsterfolkmuseum.org today 🐈‍⬛ 🐈‍⬛

As the 12th approaches, we reflect on how history, identity & tradition shape life here. At Ulster Folk Museum, we’re reinterpreting the Orange Hall with the Museum of Orange Heritage. Discover the story of the Hand & Pen banner: bit.ly/3Iex8Tv #UlsterFolkMuseum #Reawakening #OrangeHall #Identity

Loving the beautiful native orchids growing wild outside our offices @ulsterfolkmuseum.org @cedar-ni.bsky.social

Too fragile to display, the original Orange Hall banner has been replicated using modern tech so it can be shown in the hall. The original stays safe while its story stays visible. #UlsterFolkMuseum #KeepingHistoryAlive #Reawakening

What stories live within the walls of the Orange Hall at Ulster Folk Museum?We’re exploring its history, meaning & evolving role in NI’s culture as part of our Reawakening project with the Museum of Orange Heritage. ulsterfolkmuseum.org/stories/hand-and-pen-orange-hall #UlsterFolkMuseum #Reawakening