36 Drumderg Road, Derrylin, Co Fermanagh BT92 9QB

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Ext description:
(To be read in conjunction with photographic survey – see fotoweb under HB ref)
Single-storey thatched dwelling (‘direct entry’) located on Drumderg Road, near corner with Teemore Road, approx 7km south of Derrylin, Co Fermanagh.

Note: all windows are replacement uPVC unless stated otherwise

Front elevation (SE): L to R: Lean-to outbuilding perpendicular to main block, constructed of painted and rendered concrete block; door opening to extreme left with timber panelled door. Outbuilding section with pitched tin roof, timber panelled door & small window opening (boarded over). Taller single bay with window opening, asbestos sheeting to roof with remnants of thatch at apex. Single-storey porch extension with slightly sloping tin roof, door opening on SW face with uPVC door, window opening on SE face. Two window openings on right side of porch, thatched roof over with centrally located painted stone chimney with one replacement black pot..

Gable elevation (SW): Lean-to outbuilding with two door openings with sheet metal doors, abutting gable of low tin-roofed out-building, which in turn abuts main gable of dwelling, single window opening at first floor level with top-hung timber window.

Gable elevation (NE): One window opening to first floor level with top-hung timber window.

Rear elevation (NW): One window opening to right side under thatched roof section, blank wall under asbestos roof section.

Materials:
Roof – thatch to main section, asbestos sheeting to left side (when viewed from front), tin roof (slight slope) to porch extension, tin roof to lower left side ‘byre’
Walls – painted roughcast
Windows & doors – replacement uPVC windows and front door. Top-hung timber casements to FF gables.
RWGs – painted metal

Outbuildings (refer to site plan):
B - single storey, tin roof, painted concrete block walls, various window and door openings
C - small single-storey store to front of dwelling, painted rendered walls with door opening to NE side (timber panelled door), square window opening on SE face (timber frame, no glass). Other faces are blank.
D - barrelled roofed barn with sheeted metal walls to upper sides and concrete block to lower.
E - single-storey, painted rendered building with asbestos sheeted roof, boarded up window openings (located in
setting of No.36, but beyond fance boundary - appears to be under different ownership)

Setting:
Single-storey thatched dwelling built pre 1834, located near corner of Drumderg Road and Teemore Road, approx 7km south of Derrylin and 2km west of Teemore, Co Fermanagh. The dwelling fronts onto Drumderg Road at an angle, behind a coursed stone wall with piers, painted concrete coping and metal gate. Various outbuildings located within the grounds (refer to site plan).

Historical information

A small building which appears to match the positioning of the present house is shown on the OS map of 1834, along with a slightly larger structure to its immediate north-western side, both close to the Teemore Road which at that date tracked further southwards than today. Due undoubtedly to their modest size, neither of these the properties is recorded in the 1836 valuation of Tomregan Parish. On the revised OS map of 1857 the house is depicted as slightly longer, suggesting that it may have reached its present extent by that date; however, given the scale of the map it is difficult to be definitive about this.

In the second valuation of 1862 three properties are recorded in this vicinity, all leased from George Collins of Garvary Lodge [see HB12/08/001]. One was occupied by Peter Curry and rated for valuation purposes at £1-15-0, the second by Francis McBrien and rated at 15/-, with the third in the hands of Ellen McKenna and amounting to 5/-. The last, which appears to have been set some distance to the east and fronting on to Teemore Road, was demolished in 1876, with the first two - which judging from the map must have been this house and its near neighbour - recorded by the valuers as ‘in ruins’ by 1923-24, and are not recorded up until at least 1929 (when the annual valuation revision books end.)

In the general revaluation book of 1935 the plot is merely classed as ‘land’, but in 1940 the valuers record a house on the site once again, occupied by Peter McBrien. This would appear to suggest that the building see today was restored and reoccupied in the late 1930s. Mr. McBrien is still recorded as the occupant in 1956.

References - Primary sources
1 OS maps, Fermanagh sheet 41, 1834, 1857, 1907; Irish Grid sheet 271, 1962
2 PRONI VAL2B/4/9 Second valuation, Tomregan Parish, 1862
3 PRONI VAL12B/28/2A-E; VAL12B/28/17A Valuation revision books, 1864-1929
4 PRONI VAL3B/5/8 First general revaluation of Northern Ireland, 1935
5 PRONI VAL3C/5/12 First general revaluation of Northern Ireland, 1935-56

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Single-storey thatched dwelling (‘direct entry’ type) built pre 1834, located near corner of Drumderg Road and Teemore Road, approx 7km south of Derrylin and 2km west of Teemore, Co Fermanagh. While thatched dwellings are becoming rarer in N Ireland, historical evidence suggests this house was ruinous c.1920 and this example has insufficient historic fabric remaining to meet the legislative test for listing.