10 Murlough Road

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Farm House:
Detached three-bay two-storey rendered house, built c.1986, facing east with two-storey rubblestone outbuilding to the north.

House Materials:
Roof Fibre cement tiles
RWG UPVC
Walling Pebbledash rendered
Windows UPVC

Outbuilding:
The outbuilding located perpendicular to the main house to the north west is a two storey limewashed rubble building with Natural Slate roof with cement raised verges.

Front Elevation (S) has a centrally located vertically sheeted doorway to the first floor accessed by a rubble stone external stair (no handrail). The ground floor has 3 windows with steel casements. A lower single storey building to the east (RHS) is of similar materials and accessed via a single door.

Side gable elevation (E) is unfinished rubble stone laid to courses with roughly dressed sandstone to corner quoins. Blank save a modern inserted sliding steel faced door in new opening to Ground Floor.

Rear Elevation (N) has a single timber casement to the first floor. Single storey building to the east (LHS).

South gable elevation has a blank gable to both the single storey building with the two storey storey section rising behind.

Outbuilding Materials:
Roof Natural slate
RWG Missing
Walling Limewashed rubble stone
Windows Metal and timber casements

Setting:
Located in a publicly accessible coastal park 'Murlough Bay' designated an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI), this site of a former farmhouse commands extensive views overlooking the ocean from approximately 200 metres above sea level. The only remnants of the former historic buildings include a rubblestone outbuilding to the north and a vehicular wrought-iron gate with matching pedestrian gate hung on circular rendered piers. The site also retains a rocky outcrop on the approach avenue.

Historical information

No. 10 Murlough Road, a one-and-a-half-storey house located in the townland of Knockbrack, was constructed in c. 1889 but was demolished in c. 1986 following a fire. An early-19th century farmhouse was recorded on the first edition Ordnance Survey map (1832) as a simple rectangular-shaped structure that was surrounded by a number of outbuildings. The accompanying Townland Valuations (c. 1834) did not include details on the structure as there were no buildings in the townland worth the £3 per annum minimum required for inclusion in that source. The original farmhouse was first recorded in detail in the mid-19th century by Griffith’s Valuation (1859) which set the total rateable value of the building at £1 and noted that the site was leased by the Earl of Antrim to a Mr. John McCarry.

The McCarry family continued to reside at Murlough Farm for over a century. The value of the site was greatly increased to £5 in 1889 when the original dwelling was replaced with the two-storey farmhouse and a number of new outbuildings. In 1901 the Census of Ireland noted that Murlough Farm was occupied by Hugh McCarry, his wife and their ten children. The accompanying census building return described the late-Victorian farmhouse as a 2nd class dwelling that consisted of 10 rooms and possessed extensive outbuildings including a stable, two cow houses, a piggery and a barn. The contemporary third edition Ordnance Survey map (1904) continued to depict Murlough Farm as a rectangular-shaped building surrounded by outbuidings to its north and south sides. The value of the farm was increased to £9 and 5 shillings under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) which noted that the McCarry family had purchased the site outright from the Earl of Antrim. Hugh McCarry remained at Murlough Farm until his death in 1943 at which time the farm passed to his son, Francis (PRONI Wills). By the end of the Second General Revaluation (1956-72) Murlough Farm was occupied by Patrick McCarry and its total rateable value stood at £16 and 5 shillings.

In 1972 the UAHS Guide for the Glens of Antrim noted that Murlough Farm was not architecturally significant but, along with the cottage at Goodland (HB05/04/015), it possessed ‘enormous importance as simple and traditional ingredients in one of the most beautiful stretches of coastline in Ireland’ (UAHS Guide, p. 54). Murlough Farm was listed in 1980. The NIEA HB Records note that the two-storey farmhouse at Murlough Farm was destroyed by a fire in 1986. The building was delisted in 1998 and was subsequently replaced with the current farmhouse. Field inspection of the site, carried out as part of the Second Survey, has found that only a single rubble-stone outbuilding and the original entrance survive at the site (NIEA HB Records).

References

Primary Sources
1. PRONI OS/6/1/5/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1832)
2. PRONI OS/6/1/5/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1855)
3. PRONI OS/6/1/5/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1904)
4. PRONI OS/6/1/5/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1922)
5. PRONI VAL/1/A/1/5 – Townland Valuation Map (c. 1834)
6. PRONI VAL/1/B/133 – Townland Valuations (c. 1834)
7. PRONI VAL/2/B/1/27A – Griffith’s Valuation (c. 1859)
8. PRONI VAL/12/B/2/11A-F – Annual Revisions (1864-1929)
9. PRONI VAL/3/C/1/5 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57)
10. PRONI VAL/4/B/1/11 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72)
11. Ulster Town Directories (1861-1918)
12. Census of Ireland (1901; 1911)
13. PRONI Wills Catalogue (15 Aug 1943)
14. First Survey Record – HB05/04/011 (1972)
15. NIEA HB Records – HB05/04/011

Secondary Sources
1. Brett, C. E. B., ‘List of historic buildings, groups of buildings and areas of architectural importance in the Glens of Antrim’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1972.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

H-. Alterations detracting from building

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

Listed house likely demolished and rebuilt c.1986. Original outbuildings remain.

General comments

The building is located within an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI 330).