Vernacular house

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Since the date of the full survey vents have been inserted into the openings, but as these were blocked anyhow this is of little importance.
AML (SPTO) 26/04/23 The full description below refers to the building at the date of the full survey.

Single-storey, mud-walled vernacular house of probable pre-1830 construction, currently used as a store by the local council.

SETTING The building is located on the eastern side of a relatively quiet, almost semi-rural road, (approximately 2.6km NW of Lurgan town centre, 0.3km south of the M1 motorway), at the head of a private lane leading to another - presently disused – dwelling (HB14/03/015). The building fronts on to the lane and backs on to a field, with the W gable facing on to the road verge.

FRONT ELEVATION Roughly S facing. Asymmetrical layout. Entrance to right of centre set within shallow flat-roofed projection / porch. Remains of relatively recent makeshift paneled timber door. Three uniform 'window openings' to left of entrance now blocked (in concrete block) but with stone cills still in place; similar ‘window’ to right.

E and W ELEVATIONS Both gables blank.

REAR ELEVATION Could not be seen clearly, but internal inspection indicates three blocked 'windows' as front, seemingly evenly spaced. A large plain metal sheet now covers the central part of this elevation; this appears to be attached to the wall itself.

WALLS Wet-dash render with plain render to ‘porch’. Parts of rear elevation and gables now covered in ivy growth.

ROOF Original roof structure and thatch / straws in place, but now covered in corrugated-iron sheeting with plain timber barges and fascia boards. Two brick chimneystacks, one to W gable, the other in line with entrance (in hearth-lobby fashion). RW goods missing to front; PVC gutter and downspouts to rear.

Historical information

Several buildings are depicted at this point along what is now Boconnell Lane on John Rocque’s 1760 map of County Armagh. Given the scale and nature of the map, it is impossible to say if any of these corresponds to the structure we see today. The map does demonstrate, however, that this vicinity was occupied by what would seem to have been a clachan-like development – spanning both sides of the road - at that date, of which this house may well have been a part. A century earlier than this, the hearth money rolls of 1664 record three dwellings in 'Buckonnell', one reportedly with two hearths belonging to Captain Robert Hawkworth (or Hawksworth), and two with single hearths belonging to Peter Bose and William Moore respectively; we do not know exactly where these were sited, however.

A 1751 Brownlow estate map of the townland names Christopher Whelldon as the tenant of a large plot that included this location, but no details are supplied as to sub-letting or dwellings of any kind. A much more detailed estate map of 1832 shows what would seem to be the present house in place, with the accompanying list of tenants noting Henry McCorry as the occupant. Several other structures to the north, south and west, in a loose clachan arrangement similar to that suggested on Rocque's 1760 survey. The 1834 OS map depicts a similar layout of buildings, but none are recorded in the 1836 valuation book, a strong indication that all were modest vernacular structures, just like the survivng building we see today.

Mr McCorry (or a relative of the same name) was still in residence when the second valuation was carried out in 1862. He is recorded as leasing the property directly from the Brownlow estate, with the house and offices (i.e. outbuildings) valued at £1-10-0 for rating purposes. The 1859 OS map indicates that the outbuildings stood just a few metres to the south-west of the house, on the other side of the lane. These were demolished at some point before 1905 (they are not on the OS map of that year), although the valuation books make no reference this.

In 1872 the lease of the property passed to Patrick Hendron, who added almost 10ac to the existing 5ac attached to the holding. Bernard Toner became tenant in 1884, followed by Bernard Kane in 1888, and his widow Anne Kane, in 1892. The Kane family appear to have been of long-standing in this area, having been in possession of land in neighbouring Turmoyra townland since at least 1804, with Bernard and Anne having lived at the house at the east end of the lane from this - ‘Turmoyra Farm’ from 1877 (see HB14/03/015).

Unfortunately the 1901 census returns for Boconnell townland do not appear to have survived, so we have no details as to the occupants of the house at this time. Anne Kane herself is recorded as living at the Turmoyra house; however, as her household also consisted of her three grown-up children, a daughter in law and eight grandchildren (13 people in total) and it is possible that some of these relations may have been actually living in the Boconnell property, after all it was only a few metres distant. This is also supported by the fact that the latter house does not appear to have been recorded in the 1911 census.

Anne Kane died some time before 1911 and both properties passed to her son, Michael, who seems to have passed away some time prior to 1920. The house remained with the Kane family who leased it to Edward Lavery c.1932, and then to Edward Pedlow from 1947. It is recorded as vacant in 1970, by which time the holding appears to have been vested by the NI Ministry of Development, presumably as part of the wider Craigavon scheme. It has since passed into the ownership of Armagh City, Banbridge & Craigavon Borough Council and currently serves as a store for council employees.

References – Primary sources
1 County Armagh hearth money rolls - 1664 (see L.P. Murray, "The County Armagh hearth money rolls, AD 1664" in 'Archivum Hibernicum' Vol.8, 1941, pp.121-202)
2 PRONI D1928/P/1B Brownlow estate maps - 1751
3 Map of County Armagh by John Rocque – 1760
4 PRONI D1928/P/4B Brownlow estate maps - 1832
5 PRONI FIN/5/A/245A-B Tithe applotment books, Seagoe parish - 1834
6 OS maps, County series, Armagh sheet 6 – 1834, 1859, 1905-06,
7 PRONI VAL2B/ 2/19A Second valuation, Seagoe parish – 1862
8 PRONI VAL12B/14/3A-F Annual valuation revision books, Seagoe parish – 1864-1929
9 NAI Census of Ireland - 1901, 1911 (online at National Archives: Census of Ireland 1901/1911)
10 PRONI VAL3C/2/9 First General Revaluation of Northern Ireland, Brownlow's Derry ED - 1935-57
11 PRONI VAL4B/2/10 Second General Revaluation of Northern Ireland, Brownlow's Derry ED - 1956-75

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

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

Criteria for listing: historic interest

S. Authenticity
X. Local Interest
R. Age
Z. Rarity

Evaluation

Since the date of the full survey vents have been inserted into the openings, but as these were blocked anyhow this is of little importance.
The full description below refers to the building at the date of the full survey.This mud-walled vernacular house may be of pre-1760 construction. This in itself is noteworthy, but the fact that (under the c.1900s tin covering) it has retained its roughly-hewn roof timbers and thatch, makes it all the more valuable. The window openings have been blocked up in recent years, and much of the interior detailing is missing, but the survival of both walling and roof structure in a building of this type and probable age is now something of a rarity and of considerable local importance. The setting is also largely untouched, and the lane next to the building leads directly to 'Turmoyra Farm' (HB14/03/015) a slightly larger vernacular dwelling which is now listed.