Thatched House

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A one and a half storey three bay direct entry thatched house, iin a state of advancing dereliction at the time of recording (2000). Building faces west onto a minor road but is separated from the road by a high hedge and small garden two metres deep. The ground floor of the house is below the level of the road.

The building has a small overgrown garden to the rear. It is situated in flat ground approximately half a mile from Lower Lough Erne. The thatch is straw.

The main west elevation has a painted smooth sand cement façade. There are three timber casement windows of varying sizes and a sheeted modern entrance door with obscured glass panel. The thatch is badly decayed with plant life growing out and the ridge has slipped 150mm approximately from the cement parging around the chimneys. The chimneys are situated not on the gable but about 2 metres from each end corresponding with internal wall positions. The entrance door in the central bay is close to the northern chimney line. The eaves is low, c. 2m from ground level.

The north gable retains the original wet dash render with layers of lime wash over; a small sash window at high level lights the first floor.

The rear, east elevation, retains the original render on the two northern bays, lime washed sand cement render to the rest. At the junction is a casement window surrounded by an unpainted sand cement. Near the northern gable is a large crack from wall plate to ground level and at wall plate the wall has moved forward 100mm.

The southern gable has two casements at low level and a small single pane window near the apex of the wall. A flat roofed shed abuts near the road.

The building has a small overgrown garden to the rear. It is situated in flat ground approximately half a mile from Lower Lough Erne. The thatch is straw.

Historical information

A building is shown on this site on the OS map of 1834 / 35, but not recorded in the first valuation of c.1835. It is included in the second valuation of 1862, with the occupant James Lattimer recorded as a tenant ‘at will’ of the Erne Estate, and the rateable value calculated at 10/-.

The building has been in the ownership of the present family from the late 19th century, but has been vacant since the 1980s. Formerly a two-roomed house, the concrete block extension was added in the 1970s.

References- Primary sources
1 PRONI VAL/1A/4/42 OS map, County Fermanagh sheet 42, with valuation
references (1834 / 35-c.38)
2 PRONI VAL/2A/4/42A Revised OS map, County Fermanagh sheet 42, with valuation references (1857-c.62)
3 PRONI VAL/2B/4/8A Second valuation, Kinawley (1862)

Secondary sources
1 Information from owner (2000)

The building is not indicated on the second survey map of Co Fermanagh 1857. It is indicated on the first survey of 1835 however. The building is indicated on 1907 survey. It is likely from the construction of the building that the house does indeed date from before 1835. It is situated on lands owned by the Crum Estate until the Land Reform Acts of the end of the 19th century. The corrugated metal outbuilding to the north is shown on the 1907 map. The building has been in the ownership of the present family from the end of the nineteenth century. It has been vacant since the late 1980s. The building was formerly a two roomed cottage with the concrete block extension occurring during the 1970’s. The plan seems largely unaltered though the staircases may have been later additions.
References:

Primary Sources:

OS map 1st Edition 1835 County Fermanagh Sheet 42
OS map 1st Revision 1857 County Fermanagh Sheet 42
OS map 2nd Edition 1907 County Fermanagh Sheet 42
Owner:

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
D. Plan Form
E. Spatial Organisation
H-. Alterations detracting from building
I. Quality and survival of Interior

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Z. Rarity
X. Local Interest

Evaluation

A one and a half storey three-bay direct entry thatched farmhouse. Unusual interior detailing, with interesting jamb wall with two openings. Another rare detail is the two staircases leading to first floor. The building is a good example of a type once common but now scarce retaining much of its original interior fittings. Iminor external alterations could be redressed. At the time of recording (2000), the building is perilously close to dereliction.