House - 17th century

The National Monuments Service's description

In level pasture, on the N shore of Templehouse Lake. The fragmentary ruin of a two-storey gable-ended L-shaped house, standing at the SE corner of a complex of ruined buildings (SL033-026001-, SL033-026002- and SL033-026003-). The building is now reduced to rubble apart from its E wall (L 14m), a short return of the S wall (original L c. 12m), and a gable wall which formed the N gable of the eastern arm (L 8m); there is also a gable on the S half of the E wall. The house was extensively rebuilt in the 19th century as part of a farmyard complex but three original windows are evident on the E wall, one at ground-floor level and two above. These are very fragmentary apart from that on the S end at 1st-floor level which is now completely blocked up. The light is a rectangular frame divided by three mullions and a transom, and covered by a hood-moulding. This is typically of an early 17th-century date. Another original feature of the house are the contemporary red bricks which faced the inside wall. Also probably associated with the house is a stone-built chimney stack (H c. 6m) which stands close to the now missing SW corner of the house.
Lying on the ground nearby are fragments of a limestone door arch and an inscribed limestone mantelpiece (SL033-026006-), both of which probably come from the house. The mantelpiece (1.2m x 0.4m x 0.3m) has been damaged in places but its basic form is clear. On its front face are two side-by-side rectangular panels which bear a Latin inscription which O'Rorke (1878, 320) described as 'three pious proverbs'. Above the panels the face curves outwards, and above this is the flat top-surface of the mantel. O'Rorke (ibid.) also noted a stone 'over the hall-door' which bore the crest of the Croftons, their motto ('the generation of the righteous shall be blessed') and the year 1627; the Croftons had taken possession of Templehouse shortly before this date (O'Dowd 1991, 99). This feature is no longer visible. The complex featured in a siege in 1641 when it became a refuge for local protestant families (ibid., 118-22).

The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Sligo' compiled by Ursula Egan, Elizabeth Byrne, Mary Sleeman with Sheila Ronan and Connie Murphy (Dublin Stationery Office, 2005).

Date of upload: 18 January 2008