71 Ballynafoy Road

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Single storey five-bay house built c.1860 now demolished; natural slate roofing, harled and whitened walling with sliding sash windows and segmental-arched entrance.

Replaced with modern bungalow set in landscaped grounds.

Historical information

No. 71 Ballynafoy Road, a single-storey house in the townland of Ballynaskeagh, was constructed after 1853 as it does not appear on the second edition of the Ordnance Survey map in that year but was depicted on the next edition in 1903. The house has now been demolished.

Prior to the construction of the single-storey house c. 1853, an earlier dwelling on the current site could be seen on the first edition of the Ordnance Survey map in 1833; this earlier building is also now demolished, however it was originally situated along the Ballynafoy Road approximately where the current eastern boundary wall of the Bronte Steakhouse now stands. It is not known who occupied the site in the 1830s, however in c. 1862 Griffith’s Valuation notes that a Mr. William Boggs let the site from John S. Crawford (a landowner based in Crawfordsburn).

The second edition of the Ordnance Survey map notes that the sites northern outbuildings had not been constructed by 1853, and in 1862 Griffith’s Valuation valued the site at £6 10s. The subsequent Annual Revisions note that the site operated as a farm; however, in 1871 it passed to a Mr. John Sands who constructed two additional outbuildings to the west and north-west sides of the original house (forming a small three-sided courtyard) raising the value of the farm to £8.

Sand’s Will records that he owned a number of farms in the townlands of Glascar and Ballynaskeagh and that he operated a farm and a shop from the site on the Ballynafoy Road. Sands converted the dwelling into a public house and upon his death in 1881 his son James took over the business (PRONI Wills). The 1901 Census notes that James (60, Presbyterian) resided in Ballynaskeagh with his wife Mary (35) and their young family; the census building return described their farmhouse as a 2nd class dwelling that consisted of seven rooms.

In 1907 James Sands died granting control of the farm and public house to his widow Mary (PRONI Wills); the 1911 census notes that the farm Mary controlled consisted of a stable, a cow house, calf house, dairy, a piggery, a boiling house and a barn which were located in the sites outbuildings. Mary Sands continued to reside at the site until her own death in 1936 at which time the public house and farm passed to her two sons John and James.

No. 71 Ballynafoy Road was listed in 1977; at some point in the late 20th century the c1833 single-storey house was demolished and replaced with a modern dwelling. The outbuilding to the north of the dwelling were converted into the Bronte Steakhouse in c. 2000.

In 1970 the First Survey Record described No. 71 Ballynafoy Road as:

"Post 1833: A single-storey house with harled and whitened walls. The roof is slated, each gable rises to the rendered chimney, there is also a rendered chimney not slightly off centre. The entrance in a segmental-arched opening is flanked by two [D/H] windows; with full glazing bars, either side. Double panelled doors, one flanked by two-frame sidelights, the fanlight is divided vertically into two panes."

References

Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/3/41/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1833
2. PRONI OS/6/3/41/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1853
3. PRONI OS/6/3/41/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1903
4. PRONI OS/6/3/41/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1903-1918
5. PRONI VAL/1/A/3/41 – Townland Valuation Map 1830s
6. PRONI VAL/1/B/351 – Townland Valuations 1830s
7. PRONI VAL/2/B/3/55B – Griffith’s Valuation c. 1862
8. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/4A – Annual Revisions 1864-1876
9. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/4B – Annual Revisions 1877-1887
10. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/4C – Annual Revisions 1887-1898
11. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/4D – Annual Revisions 1898-1911
12. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/4E – Annual Revisions 1912-1929
13. Census of Ireland (1901 / 1911)
14. PRONI Wills (25 May 1881; 26 Sept 1907; 1 July 1936)

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Former single storey rendered and slated house built c.1860, demolished c.1990 and replaced with modern dwelling of no historic or architectural interest.