A few hundred metres from the remains at Bodrifty is a replica based on the largest of the buildings. We stayed in it whilst on holiday and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
We heated the room with a wood fire, which was an interesting experiment. When the weather was dry the wood smoke quickly filtered through the thatch, keeping the place warm (even with the doors open during the day time) and the air stayed clear. When it was raining however, the smoke hung around inside. The pitch of the roof is guesswork, and this replica has a much higher pitch than I've seen in other, similarly sized roundhouses. We were very thankful for it though, as a lower roof in the rain would have been much more problematic due to this issue with the smoke.
We spent lots of time in the roundhouse engaged in crafts. Before leaving HB made a sketch of the house.
After we returned home HB was inspired to write about round houses.
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