28 Ballymore Road

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A symmetrical three-bay two-storey farmhouse pre-dating 1834 and located south of the Ballymore Road in Fourtowns. Rectangular plan with single-storey extension to rear.

Pitched natural slate roof with rendered chimneystacks. Cast-iron half-round rainwater goods on slightly projecting eaves course. Walling is lime render. Windows are 8/8 timber sliding sash with exposed boxes and projecting masonry sills.

The principal elevation faces southwest and is three openings wide to each floor. To centre is a recessed timber-sheeted entrance door in elliptical-arched opening (fanlight filled) with three-pane side lights.

The northwest gable has a window to ground and first floor left.

The northeast (rear) elevation has a window to ground and first floor left; timber-sheeted opening to ground floor centre with infilled window at landing level; abutted at right by a single-storey extension having corrugated metal gates to northwest.

The southeast gable is blank; abutted at ground floor by a modern annexe (of no interest).

Setting

Northwest gable faces the road, set back with access lane to front having a screen of mature trees, accessed to north via square pillars with pointed caps. Lawned to front enclosed by modern timber fence. Modern farmyard to southeast. Modern bungalow to southwest.

Roof: Natural slate
Walling: Render
Windows: Timber
RWG: Cast-iron

Historical information

The farmhouse, dating from the early 1800s, is shown on the first edition OS map of 1834 as a rectangular structure with rear return. Valuation records suggest that the house and return were, for upwards of a century, two separate dwellings occupied by members of the same family. A shadow on the rear wall of the house shows the position of the former return which was demolished and replaced c.1930. The two dwellings were connected through a rear door which is still present beside the staircase of the main house.

The Townland Valuation of 1828-40 lists the main house as the property of Michael Fitzpatrick, and values the buildings on the site at £3.17s. Dimensions of the ‘front’ house are given at 43.6x23x17 and the rear house is inhabited by Bernard Devlin. The main house is tiled and given a quality mark that indicates it to be somewhat deteriorated by age.

The house and return are listed In Griffith’s Valuation (1863) as two separate dwellings, valued at £2.10s and £1.5s. The second edition OS map of 1860 shows an extension to the front façade of the house. This projection, now gone, was present until at least the 1930s and the valuation plan of the same period shows that it was used as a barn.

Griffith’s Valuation lists the two dwellings as the homes of Anne Fitzpatrick and John Fitzpatrick who lease their farm of over 13 acres from the Earl of Clanwilliam and divide the land equally between them. Hugh Fitzpatrick took over the smaller house in 1888 and is listed with John Fitzpatrick in the 1901 census. The houses were of three rooms and two rooms respectively. John Fitzpatrick was a farmer and stone mason and lived with his wife and adult daughter, who was a dressmaker. Hugh Fitzpatrick was an unmarried farmer of 39 who lived alone.

At the time of the 1911 census John Fitzpatrick no longer describes himself as a stone mason, but is still living with his wife and his daughter who now helps on the farm. A ten-year-old granddaughter, born in England, has come to live with the family. Hugh Fitzpatrick continues to live alone.

The building remained in the Fitzpatrick family until at least the 1950s and is listed as two separate dwellings until the early 1930s when the First General Revaluation puts the value at £7.10s with £1 for agricultural buildings. A plan and dimensions are given for the house and single-storey return built of rubble masonry with a corrugated iron roof. Valuer’s notes indicate that there were four rooms on the ground floor and three bedrooms on the first floor.

The dwelling house is currently vacant.

References:

Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/3/40/1 First Edition OS Map 1834
2. PRONI OS/6/3/40/2 Second Edition OS map 1860
3. PRONI OS/6/3/40/3 Third Edition OS Map 1903
4. PRONI OS/6/3/40/4 Fourth Edition OS Map 1903-18
5. PRONI VAL/1/B/355 Townland Valuation (1828-40)
6. PRONI VAL/2/B/3/58B Griffith’s Valuation (1856-64)
7. PRONI VAL/12/B/22/9A-E Annual Revisions (1866-1929)
8. PRONI VAL/12/F/4/15/7 Annual Revisions (1930-35)
9. PRONI VAL/3/C/4/29 First General Revaluation (1936-57)
10. PRONI VAL/3/D/4/15/K/1 First General Revaluation (1933-57)

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
I. Quality and survival of Interior
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

A symmetrical three-bay two-storey farmhouse pre-dating 1834 . Architectural detailing is largely intact and the original proportions and much of the original character survive. The modern farmyard to southeast and modern bungalow to southwest degrade the setting, although the dry stone boundary walls and gate piers remain. Of architectural and historic interest, this is a good example of a Georgian vernacular farmhouse, once so typical in the area but increasingly uncommon.