14 Main Street

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Relatively large, modern looking single storey house built around the fabric of a vernacular dwelling of probable pre 1834 construction. The house is set on the S side of Main Street, close to the western edge of the village of Seaforde.

The asymmetrical front façade faces N. To the right of centre is a modern door, with a modern window to the left of this, to the right of the door is a similar, but slightly smaller window and to the far right is a modern garage door.

Both gables are blank. To the rear there is a large modern gabled extension with a large modern window to right of this on rear façade of main house (the other portion of the rear façade to the left of the extension could not be seen). The façade of the entire building is finished in rough cast and painted.

The main roof is gabled and was raised to its present pitch in c.1985. The entire roof is covered in concrete tiles and to the rear there are at least two Velux windows. Single rendered chimney stack. PVC rw goods.

Historical information

Buildings are indicated on this general site on Taylor’s and Skinner’s map of 1777 and a long terrace is shown taking in this particular plot on the OS map of 1834. The 1836 valuation records tell us that this particular terrace was made up of modest single storey dwellings all of which were below rateable value. In c.1840 much of the terrace was replaced with the Tudoresque estate workers’ cottages we see today. Between the two groups of workers’ cottages, however, four of the older houses remained, including what would appear to be this dwelling. By c.1900 it alone survived.

The building remained in largely original form until c.1985, when the present owner lengthened it with the addition of a garage, raised the pitch of the roof and built the large rear extension.

References- Primary sources
1 PRONI D.366 Forde papers
2 ‘Taylor’s and Skinner’s maps of the roads of Ireland’ (Dublin 1777), map 284
3 PRONI OS/6/3/37/1 OS map, Down sh 37, 1834
4 PRONI VAL/1B/387 1st valuation, Loughinisland, 1836
5 PRONI VAL/1D/3/19 Valuation plan of Seaforde, 1836-38
6 PRONI 2nd valuation, Loughinisland, c.1860 [in print]
7 PRONI VAL/2D/3/14 Valuation plan of Seaforde, c.1860
8 PRONI OS/8/152/1 OS plan of Seaforde, 1904
9 PRONI VAL/3G/95/1 Valuation plan of Seaforde, 1935-56

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Relatively large, modern looking single storey house built around the fabric of a vernacular dwelling of probable pre 1834 construction. The property assumed its present form in c.1985 when the original dwelling was lengthened, the extension added to the rear and the pitch of the roof raised. Of little architectural interest.