46 Sheetrim Road Sheetrim Newtownhamilton Co. Armagh BT35 0LP

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Detached asymmetrical single-storey, direct-entry, four-bay vernacular building with cat slide roof to entrance porch to northwest and with evidence of settlement predating 1st Edition OS maps (1832-1846). Located along road edge to south of Sheetrim Road.

Right hand side portion of roof has corrugated tin sheeting, apparently concealing remnants of rush thatch beneath with flashing defining flush verge to gable and surmounted with rebuilt brick chimney. To left side, raised flashing defines junction with natural slate roof with increased ridge capped with terracotta tiles and with rebuilt chimney at junction with tin roof. No evidence of any rainwater goods. Rubblestone walling with paint finish applied. Square-headed window openings two over two (replaced) sliding sash timber windows. Vertically panelled and painted split timber entrance door and frame. To left, attached single story outhouse with shallow pitched corrugated sheet roofing and centrally positioned vertically sheeted timber door and frame set into painted rubblestone wall finish.

Rear, southeast elevation is partially retaining and containing 1no square-headed window opening with two over two (replaced) sliding sash timber window to right hand side of corrugated roof structure. No evidence of any rainwater goods. Rubblestone walling with paint finish applied.
Southwest elevation has exposed rubble wall with flush verge.
Northeast elevation has exposed rubble wall with flush verge and centrally positioned three over three sliding sash window at high level with 2no. 150mm dia. Open ended ventilation pipes above at apex of gable.

Setting:
The dwelling is located immediately to the south of Sheetrim Road along road edge and nestled in front of rock outcrop which defines the southerly aspect of its
setting.
Roofing: Natural slate, corrugated tin
Walling: Random rubblestone
Windows: Timber frame.
RWG: none.

Setting:
Roadside four bay single storey dwelling of direct entry style. The principal dwelling retains a strong vernacular quality with protruding windbreak, irregularly placed openings and corrugated tin and slated roofs over dwelling and conjoined outbuildings. The dwelling is attractively sited on the roadside to the southeast of Sheetrim Road on the crest of a hill, nestled within rolling drumlin countryside and in the shadow of a rock outcrop to the east. The surviving outbuildings complement the dwelling and altogether frm a pleasing complex further enriched by the setting of the vernacular dwelling immediately across the road. The survival of house and outbuildings provide an insight into the way of life of farmers with small holdings inn earlier times and or the variance of house types in rural Armagh.

Rubblestone, partially whitewashed walls, coupled with the informal alignment of the building mass, defines the setting. No curtilage enclosure to rear.

Historical information

The current vernacular dwelling house, pre-dates the first edition OS map of 1834-5, and has an attached outbuilding that may date from c1885. The dwelling is depicted as c50 feet in length on the first and second editions (1834-5 and 1861), suggesting that the attached outbuilding to the NE may have been added between 1861 and 1906-7. The dwelling is listed in Griffith’s Valuation (1862) as the residence of Edward McShane, who rents the house and outbuilding from local landlord Thomas B Ball. The buildings are valued at 10s.

In 1892 the dwelling passed to the Keenan family, who were resident at the time of the 1911 census. Widowed farmer, Mary Keenan, lived in the house with her two adult children. The house is recorded as being roofed in perishable materials, most likely thatch (this conflicts with the 1901 census which describes the roof as slate or ‘iron’), and has three windows to the front elevation, as today, and three rooms internally. The only outbuilding was described as a ‘cow house’. Field inspection confirms that the left-hand bay has a steep pitch consistent with having been thatched at some point, while the two right-hand bays have a shallower pitch, possibly as the result of alteration when the tin roof was put on. However, internally the central bay has retained the original roof timbers and scraws (possibly also retained to the right-hand bay, which has a sheeted ceiling), while timbers to the left-hand bay are replacement. The dwelling also retains its original hearth with fire crane and rotary bellows.

The large-scale OS map of 1907, depicts the dwelling house and attached outbuilding, with a further attached structure to the SW elevation. This structure survived until at least 1984 but the only remnant today appears to be the boundary wall which abuts the side elevation.

At the time of the First General Revaluation in 1934, the house was the residence of James Keenan (most likely Mary Keenan’s son). The accommodation consisted of a kitchen and two bedrooms and dimensions are given for two bays to the right which were roofed in corrugated iron (29x14½ feet) and the bay to the left which was slated (16½x14½ feet), as today. The current owner was told by his family that the thatched roof was replaced with tin in the 1930s and this is consistent with primary records, other than the 1901 census.

References:
Primary Sources:

1. PRONI OS/6/2/27/1 First Edition Six Inch OS map (1834-5)
2. PRONI OS/6/2/27/2 Second Edition Six Inch OS map (1861)
3. PRONI VAL/2/B/2/14B Parish Creggan, Sheetrim Townland (1862)
4. PRONI OS/6/2/27/3 Third Edition Six Inch OS map (1906-7)
5. Census of Ireland, 1901/1911
6. PRONI VAL/3/C/2/12 First General Revaluation ED Creggan (1933-57)
7. PRONI VAL/3/D/2/6H/5 First General Revaluation Valuer’s Binder (1933-57)
8. PRONI OS/6/2/27/4 Fourth Edition Six Inch OS map (1956)
9. Large-scale OS maps (1907, 1956, 1984) (https://shop.centremapslive.co.uk/)

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
D. Plan Form
H-. Alterations detracting from building
I. Quality and survival of Interior
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

R. Age
S. Authenticity
X. Local Interest

Evaluation

Roadside four bay single storey dwelling of direct entry style. The principal dwelling retains a strong vernacular quality with protruding windbreak, irregularly placed openings and corrugated tin and slated roofs over dwelling and conjoined outbuildings. The dwelling is attractively sited on the roadside to the southeast of Sheetrim Road on the crest of a hill, nestled within rolling drumlin countryside and in the shadow of a rock outcrop to the east. The surviving outbuildings complement the dwelling and altogether frm a pleasing complex further enriched by the setting of the vernacular dwelling immediately across the road. The survival of house and outbuildings provide an insight into the way of life of farmers with small holdings inn earlier times and or the variance of house types in rural Armagh.
The principal dwelling house pre-dates 1835. It is a good example of a relatively untouched vernacular complex on a roadside setting.