AOH Hall, Lisaclare Road, Stewartstown, Dungannon, BT71 5AA

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A single-storey barrel vaulted hall with mildly Art Deco façade, built c.1948. This Ancient Order of Hibernians hall is constructed from corrugated iron on a concrete plinth, with masonry gables. It is rectangular in plan and segmental in section.

The exterior is principally of corrugated iron. Walls and roof are one due to the barrel vaulted shape of the building. Gables and plinth are rendered. There are no rainwater goods.

The front South elevation faces the road; it is stepped in an Art Deco manner. To the centre is a square-headed door opening with tongue and groove timber door, flanked by buttresses. To each side is a square-headed window opening with concrete sill, both boarded up. There is a small raised rectangular panel over the door (now illegible) .

The side elevations East and West are corrugated iron, which curves upwards from a rendered plinth to form the roof in a smooth arc. There is a dormer opening framed in metal to each side. There are short piers at intervals to the plinth.

The rear North elevation is a blank concrete infilling the cross section of the hall.

The
setting:
The hall sits in a field, facing the road. The field is bounded by thick hedges. The ground level rises towards the back of the building, until it almost obscures the plinth. It is situated on a quiet rural road.

Historical information

The date stone on this AOH hall appears to state that it was constructed in 1948. Oddly, however, it does not appear to be listed in the contemporary valuation records.

References- Primary sources

1 Date stone on building, [?]1948
2 VAL/3C/5/7 First general revaluation of Northern Ireland, Stewartstown ED, 1936-57
This bridge was built as part of the Portadown, Dungannon and Omagh Railway, (later part of the GNR), which opened in 1861 and closed in 1965.

References- Secondary sources

1 McCutcheon, W.A., 'The industrial archaeology of Northern Ireland' (Belfast, HMSO, 1980), pp.161-63
2 Johnson, Stephen, ‘Johnson’s atlas & gazetteer of the railways of Ireland’, (Midland Publishing Ltd., 1997), pp.98-99

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed
Not listed

Evaluation

A single-storey barrel vaulted hall with mildly Art Deco façade, built c.1948. This is an example of an AoH hall built with ‘barn technology'. The Art Deco style front lends a naïve architectural pretension. Athough of minior interest as an uncommon survival, it is of a late date and does not meet the statutory and policy tests as a building of special architectural or historic interest.