As an add-on to the Emigration Experiences blog posting, there is a unique opportunity to experience what it was like to emigrate from Ireland to America as so many of our ancestors did. At the Ulster American Folk Park the visitor can see reproductions of Irish homes of the 18th and 19th century and learn about life in Ireland. The best feature of the visit will be entering the portal that takes you from Ireland to America. In the portal, the visitor enters a replica of the ship commonly used for transporting emigrants. In the ship, you see the close quarters, the dark recesses of the hull, and even the smell of the common aliment of seasickness. While standing in the ship, imagine that this is your home moving up and down on the waves for up to five weeks. At the end of the “voyage” the visitor enters an American cobblestone street and learn how the immigrants built new lives in America.
The park is located on Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, about 70 miles west of Belfast. https://www.ulsteramericanfolkpark.org/