11 Kilmonaghan Road Goragh Newry Co.Down BT35 6QF

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Two storey dwelling located off a laneway on E side of Kilmonaghan Road, just over 1 mile NE of Mullaghglass, Co Armagh. The original single-storey dwelling was built before 1835 and then raised to two storeys in the early 20th Century. The dwelling faces approximately NW and is approached from the W side via a laneway which incorporates a bridge over the former GNR Branch Line, Goraghwood - Warrenpoint on the Newry and Armagh Railway (IHR 00478:005:00), now largely obscured beneath a thick band of mature trees.

Two storey, three bay farmhouse with pitched natural slate roof and red clay ridge tiles and three red brick chimneys, one at each gable end and one to approximate centre. Walling is ruled & lined painted sand-cement render.
Flat-roofed porch to front, single storey outbuilding attached to NE side, single storey extension to SE rear and small concrete-block addition to rear SE. Detached single storey outbuilding to E of dwelling.

Front (NW) elevation:
Asymmetric three-bay façade with flat-roofed side-entry porch located to right of centre. Single window opening either side on ground floor level and three windows above on first floor level. Ground falls away towards SW.
Porch has door opening in SW side with replacement 20th Century timber door. Window opening in NE side.
On ground floor level, window to left side of porch has a replacement top-hung metal window frame, panes boarded up with plywood. Window to right side of porch has remnants of a painted timber sliding sash window.
On first floor level, from left to right, windows are – remnants of a 2/2 painted timber sliding sash window, 1/1 painted timber sliding sash window and a 2/2 painted timber sliding sash window. Any remaining glass is single-glazed. All window openings have painted stone cills.
Painted metal gutter (partial) and downpipe to right side of façade.

Single storey outbuilding abutted to NE gable, random rubblestone visible beneath patches of painted lime render, partial natural slate roof with red clay ridge tiles (roof covering and structure collapsed to large section of roof). Door opening to approximate centre with timber sheeted door and diminutive ope to left side. Left corner of walling collapsed.

Gable elevation (SW):
Blind gable, sand-cement render. Bottom section is rough textured with large bulge in wall and crack running from top to bottom. Shadow of former single storey pitched roof return/extension. Render is ruled & lined to upper section. Red brick chimney to apex.

Rear elevation (SE):
Three bay façade with single storey extension with pitched roof to approximate centre. Rough render finish with small areas of redbrick exposed around window openings.
Window opening either side of extension on ground floor level. Left side has remnants of a timber sliding sash window, right side has a top-hung metal-framed window.
Three window openings on first floor level, all with remnants of timber sliding sash windows. All window openings have stone cills.
Extension has a shallow pitched roof with asbestos sheet covering (collapsed on SW side). Window openings on both SW and SE sides with metal window frames (no glazing extant), and a door opening on NE side with a 20th Century timber door.
Single storey outbuilding to right side with random rubblestone visible beneath patches of painted lime render, natural slate roof with red clay ridge tiles. Door opening to approximate centre with timber lintel.
Small concrete-block addition to right side with corrugated iron monopitch roof.

Gable elevation (NE):
Blind gable, exposed random rubblestone to each corner, walling largely collapsed to right side. Painted lime render to upper section, shadow of former pitched roof section visible.

Setting:
Located off a short laneway on E side of Kilmonaghan Road. The dwelling is approached from the W side via the laneway which incorporates a bridge over the former railway. The railway line is now largely obscured beneath a thick band of mature trees.
Stone bridge parapets to either side of laneway; coursed stone beneath coping stones, which are large, regular, rectangular cut stones.
Tall, curved stone wall to E end of southern parapet with coping stones laid on edge, forming castellations.
Small, detached single storey random rubblestone outbuilding on E side of site, with door opening in NW side. Natural slate roof. Tall random rubblestone wall to NE side of site.
The dwelling is surrounded by agricultural land to all sides. Twentieth century detached dwellings to NW and W side.

Materials:
Walls: sand-cement render, random rubblestone with lime render to attached and detached outbuildings
Roof: natural slate with red clay ridge tiles, asbestos sheet to rear extension
Windows: timber sliding sash & metal framed windows, glazing largely missing
Rainwater goods: metal

Historical information

The original single-storey dwelling house on this site pre-dates the first edition OS map of 1835 with subsequent remodelling/rebuilding, the dwelling ultimately being raised to two storeys, most likely in the second decade of the 20th century.

The first edition OS map shows a structure of vernacular proportions, likely comprising the dwelling house with aligned attached outbuildings extending to east and west. There are also detached outbuildings depicted on the first edition map, one of which, a detached outbuilding to the SE of the dwelling house, remains on the site today. Details of the dwelling house are included in the Townland Valuation of 1836 (although it was not included in the final valuation lists being valued under the £3 threshold). The house, valued at £2.14s, was the residence of Pollock Short and was single storey with dimensions 54.6 x 19.6 feet. This equates approximately to the present-day dimensions of house and attached outbuilding and may indicate that this outbuilding was once part of the house. The house was thatched in 1836 and so were the barn, potato house and byre. A small car house and stable, both slated, are also listed. The quality mark given indicates that the dwelling was not new at this stage and was ‘deteriorated by age’.

Notwithstanding his relatively modest house, Pollock Short was one of the cess payers identified as paying the greatest amount of cess in Lower Orier barony in the 1830s and therefore was called upon to sit with magistrates at special sessions. Pollock Short died at his residence in 1839 aged 79.

In Griffith’s Valuation of 1862, the dwelling is listed as the residence of Joseph Short. The dwelling and outbuildings were valued at £2.15s and were leased from Roger Hall of Narrow Water, former High Sherriff of County Armagh. The second edition OS map (1861) shows a slight decrease in the length of the structure (by c.6 feet), and also a slight increase in width. These changes may be due to inaccuracies between maps at the scale of building footprints but could also suggest some remodelling between the 1st and 2nd map editions.

In 1874, the valuation of the dwelling house was raised from £2.15s to £3.10s, indicating some further improvement of the buildings on the site. The third edition OS map (1906) and the large-scale map of the same date, show an additional attached outbuilding (now gone) extending from the east elevation and projecting to the rear of the structure. A marginal note in the valuation book, ‘offs’, indicates that the rise in valuation may be due to this additional outbuilding.

Joseph Short is recorded as resident in the 1901 census. He was an elderly farmer of 71 living with his young wife, Mary. Also present in the house are his nephew and a male farm servant. Joseph Short died in 1906, and the farm then passed to his wife Mary, who was resident at the farm at the time of the 1911 census. Both the 1901 and 1911 censuses record the dwelling as thatched, while the 1911 census records the walls as being of ‘perishable materials’. This is not consistent with what can be seen on site today, the visible walling being of rubblestone, and may indicate an inaccuracy in the census record. The dwelling is recorded as having three windows to the front elevation in 1901 and four rooms, while in 1911, it had two windows and three rooms. Outbuildings in 1911 included a cow house, piggery and fowl house. The census building returns, while demonstrating some inconsistencies, suggest that in the early years of the 20th century the building was still single storey.

Mary continued running the dairy farm alone until at least 1925, newspaper
references indicating that she was occasionally fined for allowing her dairy cattle to wander on the public road. Mary became the outright owner of the farm in 1914 under the Land Acts, and it appears likely that the dwelling was raised to its present-day height, around the time that Mary purchased her home.
The dwelling passed to the McDonald family in 1938, although the valuer’s notebook relating to the 1930s revaluation has not survived. A rear extension (GO5) was added to the building between 1906 and 1955 (possibly at the same time as the building was raised), and the prominent front porch (G01) was added between 1955 and 1975.

References:
Primary Sources:

1. PRONI D1594/291 Rocque’s map of County Armagh (1760)
2. PRONI OS/6/2/22/1 First edition Six Inch OS map (1835)
3. Newry Telegraph, 18th April 1834
4. PRONI VAL/1/B/244A-B Townland Valuation, Parish of Killevy (1836)
5. Belfast Newsletter, 10th December 1839
6. PRONI OS/6/2/22/2 Second edition Six Inch OS map (1861)
7. PRONI VAL/2/B/2/37E Griffith’s Valuation, Barony of Orior Upper (1862)
8. PRONI VAL/12/B/15/22A-F Annual Revisions Electoral Division of Mullaghglass (1864-1929)
9. PRONI OS/6/2/22/3 Third edition Six Inch OS map (1906)
10. PRONI Wills, Joseph Short, died 25th March 1906
11. Newry Reporter, 5th September 1912
12. Newry Reporter, 6th November 1913
13. Frontier Sentinel, 18th April 1925
14. PRONI OS/6/2/22/4 Fourth edition Six Inch OS map (1955)
15. Census of Ireland 1901 and 1911 online
16. PRONI VAL/3/C/2/15 First General Revaluation ED Mullaghglass (1936-1957)
17. Large scale OS maps 1906, 1955, 1975 (https://shop.centremapslive.co.uk/)

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Two storey farmhouse located off a laneway on E side of Kilmonaghan Road, just over 1 mile NE of Mullaghglass, Co Armagh. It was built before 1835 and then raised to two storeys in the early 20th Century. The laneway approach is via a bridge over the former GNR Branch Line, Goraghwood - Warrenpoint on the Newry and Armagh Railway (IHR 00478:005:00). Despite the interesting approach, the dwelling does not survive in its original form and as such does not meet the test for listing.