THE HALF DOOR

Half doors were the perfect solution to an everyday problem. Air was needed in the tiny cottages of old Ireland because of the lack of ventilation, the number of people who lived in them, the open fire and the cooking done on it, etc. Opening the door would have allowed the hens, pigs and other livestock to wander in so the half-door was invented so that the top half could be opened independently of the lower half.

The half door was also an important part of... the social life of the occupants. At any moment a neighbour would put his or her head across the half door for a chat or the man (or woman) of the house would stand inside, rest on it and smoke a pipe of tobacco.