25 Greenisland Road

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Single storey dwelling, metal roof, evidence of ‘thatch under tin’, mud walls with dash finish. Barn attached to NW gable and modern annex to NE (rear) - cavity wall construction. Windows largely replaced and few original interior features remain. Appears in second Ed OS map. Significantly altered - insufficient original material remaining to merit listing.

Historical information

Although much of the eastern stretch of the present Greenisland Road appears to be shown John Rocque’s county map of 1760, the scale / accuracy of his survey makes it difficult to say whether any structure is marked on or close to the site of the current house at no.25. On the OS map of 1834, however, a building matching the footprint of the main front section of the present dwelling is shown, although this is not recorded in the contemporary first valuation.

In the second valuation of 1862 the building is recorded as divided into two properties – that to the northwest occupied by William Doran and that to the southeast by Mary Hennan, both leased from Thomas A[tkinson]. Woodhouse (of Portadown) and rated at a modest 10shillings each. In 1890 both properties are noted as in the hands of William Doran, and in 1897 the whole concern is described by the valuers as a ‘house and office’ (i.e. outbuilding), suggesting that some alterations may have been carried out around this time.

In the 1901 census Mr. Doran, an 81year-old, widowed farmer, was living here with his son and daughter-in-law, John and Mary Doran and their seven children, whilst the house itself is noted as a ‘2nd class’ mud-walled, thatched building with five windows in front and three rooms inside. By the time of the 1911 census, John, Mary and four of their children are listed as the occupants, however, the house itself is now recorded as rubble or brick walled with four windows in front – the arrangement we see today. Some alterations were clearly carried out in the decade after 1901 therefore, which would seem to have involved the patching or rebuilding of part of the frontage and possibly the application of the present render, although (despite what the Census alleges) much of the original mud-walling would appear to have remained in place. The brick infill on northwest gable may date from this time also, but the corrugated-iron covering to the roof must be later as it does not figure in the 1911 description.

John Doran is still listed as the householder until at least 1929, but by 1935 it was in the ownership of Patrick Lappin, transferring to Rose Lappin in 1938 and Mary A. Lappin in 1965, who was still living there in 1972. The house is believed to have been occupied up until 2005.

References – Primary sources
1 '…Survey of the County of Armagh..' by John Rocque - 1760
2 OS map county series, Armagh sheet 5 - 1833-34, 1859, 1905-06; IG sheet 144 – 1954, 1965
3 PRONI VAL2B/2/21B Second valuation, Tartaraghan parish – 1862
4 PRONI VAL12B/14/15A, C-E Annual valuation revision books, Tartaraghan ED – 1864-1920
5 Census of Ireland – 1901, 1911 [Online at www.census.nationalarchives.ie]
6 PRONI VAL12B/14/6E Annual valuation revision book, Drumcree ED -1920-29
7 PRONI VAL12F/2/5/3 Annual valuation revision book, Drumcree ED – 1930-35
8 PRONI VAL3C/2/9 First general revaluation of Northern Ireland, Drumcree ED – 1936-57
9 PRONI VAL4B/2/11 Second general revaluation of Northern Ireland, Drumcree ED – 1956-72

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Single storey dwelling, corrugated iron roof, evidence of possible ‘thatch under tin’, mud walls with dash finish. Barn attached to NW gable and modern annex to NE (rear) - cavity wall construction. Windows largely replaced and few original interior features remain. Appears in second Ed OS map. Significantly altered - insufficient original material remaining to merit listing.