Coleman’s

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A single storey direct entry mud walled three bay thatched house with whitened rendered or roughcast finishes.
The property is accessed by taking the Ballyconnell road that proceeds westwards from the Belturbet road after about three-quarters of a mile from Derrylin. The site is about two miles north of Ballyconnell.

The house faces north-east set back a little distance behind a rendered wall that is the result of road widening that necessitated removal of the hedge that previously formed the front boundary of the property.

The right hand (north-east) corner of the house has been re-built using concrete blocks of reduced thickness. The window jambs in this section are square in contrast to the splayed variety that occur in those that light the rooms contained within the walls of original thickness.
The roof is thatched between cement skews and fillets. A plain rendered chimney rises above the position of the kitchen hearth.

The entrance with flush door is flanked to the left (south-east) by two and to the right by one plain sashed vertically sliding window with chamfered sash stops and sills of traditional depths.

There are no openings in the rear wall or in the gables.

To the right of the house (north-east) a lean-to section with a corrugated iron roof is entered by a flush door. The construction is of concrete block and there is a small window in the gable.

Historical information

This site is shown undeveloped on the OS map of 1834 / 35, but a house matching the present is shown on the revised map of 1857. This house is included in the second valuation of 1862, with Patrick McKenna listed as the occupant, John Keenan the lessor, with the rateable value calculated at 10/-.

The relatively recent widening of the road in front of the house has resulted in the loss of ground together with a hedge and outbuilding. Re-thatching was carried out in 1993 by Frank Gilligan of Garrison, using rye straw.

References- Primary sources
1 PRONI VAL/1A/4/41 OS map, County Fermanagh sheet 41, with valuation
references (1834 / 35-c.38)
2 PRONI VAL/2A/4/41A Revised OS map, County Fermanagh sheet 41, with valuation references (1857-c.62)
3 PRONI VAL/2B/4/9 Second valuation, Tomregan (1862)

Secondary sources
1 EHS Survey of Thatched Buildings, report by Colin Hatrick, 1992
2 EHS Monitoring of Thatched Buildings, report by Michele McFaul to EHS, 26 April 1994

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
F. Structural System
H-. Alterations detracting from building
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Z. Rarity
X. Local Interest

Evaluation

A single-storey, direct entry, three bay mud-walled thatched house with whitened external finish.
The front north-east corner of the house has been rebuilt but the layout remains intact. The mud-walled construction is of considerable interest as is retention of the floor level hearth, canopy and bressummer. Windows and doors follow traditional form.