the joys of Irish rural architecture

This picture discretely backs off displaying the full ugliness of these bungalows on the Cooley Peninsula, a lovely part of Ireland blighted by the dreaded infection known as 'bungalow bliss'. Whilst Ireland has several vernacular rural architectural idioms, most domestic building in the countryside since the war has been based on various bungalow styles that pay no attention to context, quality, or overall impact on the (visual) environment. Given that farmers are constantly getting planning permission to sell off fields for development of this sort (brown envelopes are said to help), Ireland, in spite of its underpopulation, is covered in repellant bungalows. The picture shows a cluster of them on the edge of Balagan, a village no great distance from Carlingford in Louth. The village is full of these bungalows. The pattern tends to be that original, ancient buildings are allowed to decay and new ones are built next to them or instead of them. The old buildings tend to be too small and uncomfortable for modern living. The sad thing is that even slight architectural adjustments of scale and design harmonise very well with the Irish countryside. Best of all are geometric designs that pay hommage to the tradition Irish cottage without reproducing its manifold discomforts. Sadly, there are still no wothwhile standards for building in the countryside (the towns we'll leave to another day), so the effect on the tourist or visitor is of unceasing, unrelieved ugliness and banality. I kid you not! Don't expect the picture-postcard view of Ireland trumpeted on tourist sites.