Cottage Adj to 203 Concession Road Crossmaglen Newry Co. Armagh BT35 9JD

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Single storey four bay lobby entry vernacular dwelling with projecting east facing entrance porch, with evidence of settlement pre-dating 1835 1st ed OS map. Located up a long laneway, surrounded by a modern low dry-stone boundary wall punctuated with circular piers and modern painted metal gates at points of pedestrian access.

Front elevation faces east with natural slate finish to roof together with two centrally positioned chimneys on ridge with raised concrete verges either side. uPVC rainwater goods throughout. Painted finish to rubble-stone wall finish. Square-headed window openings with replacement two over two painted timber sliding sash windows and concrete sill. Split timber sheeted composite door, flanked with projecting dressed stone piers, topped with curved fascia board to flat porch roof with vision panel centred in top portion, complete with metal hinge brackets.

Rear elevation has single square-headed window opening with two over two painted timber sliding sash windows and concrete sill to left hand side with split half glazed painted door to right. Three modern rooflights are equally positioned on roof. Gabled elevation to south has single square-headed window opening with centrally positioned two over two painted timber sliding sash windows and concrete sill. West gable is blank.

Setting:
The complex is located near the end of a long roadway on elevated ground.

Roofing: Natural slate,
Walling: Random (faux) rubblestone effect render, dressed stonework
Windows: Timber
RWG: Upvc.

Historical information

The current dwelling house dates from c1850 and was extended southwards by a bay between 1907 and 1956. Recent (post-2015) extensive modernisation has removed or obscured most of the original fabric.

The house does not appear on the 1st edition OS map of 1835 (buildings shown close to the site of the current dwelling do not occupy the same footprint), but is first shown as part of a cluster of buildings on the 2nd edition of 1862 and remains the only survivor of this clachan. The dwelling was initially approximately 32 feet in length, corresponding to the two northernmost bays.

The dwelling appears in Griffith’s Valuation of 1864 as the residence of Patrick McGeeney , valued at £1 and leased from local landlord Peter Murphy. The 1901 and 1911 censuses record James McGeeney, labourer, in residence with his wife and two daughters. The dwelling is recorded as thatched in both censuses.

James’ daughter, Rose, remained resident at the time of the First General Revaluation in 1933, when dimensions are given for the dwelling of 32 feetx14 and 9 feet in height. There were two rooms, a kitchen and a bedroom, the bedroom roof being slated at this time and the kitchen being roofed in corrugated metal.

The dwelling was extended southwards by a bay between 1907 and 1956 (most likely after 1933). At the time of scoping (2015) the roof was corrugated metal, but the building has since been renovated and any remaining historic fabric has largely been removed/obscured.

References:

Primary Sources:

1. PRONI OS/6/2/30/1 First Edition Six Inch OS map (1835)
2. PRONI OS/6/2/30/2 Second Edition Six Inch OS map (1862)
3. Griffith’s Valuation townland of Clonalig (www.askaboutireland.ie) (1864)
4. PRONI VAL/12/B/12/7A-D (1859-1929) Annual Revision Lists, ED Moybane
5. PRONI OS/6/2/30/3 Third Edition Six Inch OS map (1907)
6. PRONI VAL/3/C/2/14 (1935-1957) First General Revaluation, Rural District of Newry, Vol 3
7. PRONI VAL/3/D/2/6/Y/2 (1933-57) Valuers RV Binder, ED Moybane
8. PRONI OS/6/2/30/4 Fourth Edition Six Inch OS map (1956-7)
9. Census of Ireland, 1901 and 1911