73 Cloy Road

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

No.73 Cloy Road is a single-storey -with loft level- direct-entry thatched vernacular house of pre-1835 construction, with attached single-storey outbuildings arranged in linear fashion. In rural surroundings, the property is set at an angle on a slope to the south side of the road, 3.8km East of the village of Ederney. The building has not been occupied for some years and is currently in a state of disrepair.

The house faces roughly east. Abutting its south gable is a gabled outbuilding of lesser breadth and height than the house itself. Attached to the opposite gable are two further outbuildings, that to the south of similar height and breadth as the house (with stonework tied in with the latter’s front and rear walls), that to the north much narrower and lower.

The walls and chimneystacks of the house are constructed in semi-coursed squared stone and rubble, with the gables rising to parapets with roughly dressed copings. The walls retain patches of lime render, which has largely discoloured. The south gable is slightly off plumb.

The roof is covered in thatch, that is substantially decomposed . The roof retains its original roughly-hewn trusses to the North end although theyhave partially collapsed. To the south end, used as a bedroom, the ceiling is boarded and the construction may be purlins without trusses.

The entrance consists of a small, off-centre porch with distinctive angled sides, a flat roof made up from a single slab of stone, and a flat-arched doorway with timber-sheeted double door. To the left of the porch is a relatively small flat-arch window-opening with c.1970s-80s replacement timber frame. To the right of the porch is a larger (enlarged) window-opening with a c.1950s-60s metal frame. To the south gable there are two very small, square upper level window-openings with fixed-light frames, whilst to the rear there are three window-openings, the outer openings similar to that at front left but with the remains of timber sash frames, the remaining opening as those to the gable.

The outbuildings are constructed in a similar fashion to the house, but have corrugated-metal roofs. That to the south has a pedestrian doorway to front, with timber-sheeted door, whilst the larger of the northern buildings has a broader doorway (for a cart) with timber-sheeted double door. The smaller structure to the north appears to have a pedestrian door, but this could not be seen due to thick shrubbery. Each of the outbuildings has a window-opening to the rear, those to the northern buildings boarded up with corrugated-metal sheeting, with that to the southern building filled with a three-pane timber frame.

Historical information

A building matching the present house is shown on the OS map of 1835 with a small separate structure, marked as a ‘corn kiln’ to the north-west. The roof structure of the house, suggests the building is pre 1830, and perhaps 18th century. On the revised OS map of 1857 a slightly longer building is shown, indicating that some (or all) of the outbuildings had been added by this stage. The 1905 map shows a similar plan, as do all others thereafter.

Unfortunately the property is not recorded in the c.1836 valuation as it below rateable value; however it is noted in the second valuation of 1860, with the occupant listed as one Owen Keane and the rateable value £1-10-0. Mr. Keane remained living in the house until 1882 when a William Keane (probably Owen’s son) is given as the occupant. Elizabeth Keane is recorded as resident in 1907, followed by Joseph Keane, who acquired the freehold to the property sometime between 1929 and 1935.

By 1941 the house had been acquired, (or had passed to), a Mary Teague, with a Maria Maguire listed as living there the following year, followed by Stephen and Michael Gallagher in 1945, and Ellen J. Gallagher, (later becoming Ellen J. Maguire), in 1949. The last occupant appears to have been a William A. Knox, who took up residency sometime between 1972 and 1975 and is still listed in the valuation books as the householder in 1993.

References- Primary sources
1 PRONI OS/6/4/6/1 Ordnance Survey (OS) map, County Fermanagh sheet 6, 1834-35
2 PRONI VAL/2A/4/6A OS map, County Fermanagh sheet 6, with valuation
references, 1857(-60)
3 PRONI VAL/2B/4/13B Second valuation, Magheraculmoney parish, 1860
4 PRONI VAL/12B/24/14A Annual valuation revision book, Magheraculmoney Electoral district (ED), 1864-78
5 PRONI VAL/12B/24/14B Annual valuation revision book, Magheraculmoney ED, 1879-81
6 PRONI D/1096/59/6 Landed Estates rental, 1879
7 PRONI VAL/12B/24/14C Annual valuation revision book, Magheraculmoney ED, 1882-98
8 PRONI VAL/12B/24/14D Annual valuation revision book, Magheraculmoney ED, 1898-1914
9 PRONI OS/6/4/6/3 OS map, County Fermanagh sheet 6, 1905
10 PRONI VAL/12B/24/14E Annual valuation revision book, Magheraculmoney ED, 1915-29

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

No.73 Cloy Road is a thatched vernacular dwelling of at least 170 years of age which has retained some of its original roof structure and its internal layout. Unfortunately it has fallen into disrepair in recent years and its value has thus been degraded. It remains an interesting piece of rural built heritage and this survey adds to our understanding of this increasingly rare building type.

General comments

This record was previously numbered HB12/14/041