Legatirriff House

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A two storey, three bay, lobby entry thatched house with a one and a half storey thatched annex on the south-east gable. The external finish is of roughcast

The building faces north-east set a little distance from the road behind a lawn and a beech hedge that is pierced by an arch formed of ivy that contains a hooped and fleur-de-lis decorated iron gate. The lawn is terminated on the north-west side by a low roughcast wall with projecting saddle back coping.

From the Moira roundabout (Exit 9) of the M1 Motorway the road leading northwards in the direction of Glenavy is travelled for about five miles before making a left hand (west) turn and crossing Addisons Lane Ends. Legatirriff house is situated on the left-hand (south-west) side of Lough Road a distance of about a mile from the main road.

The thatch covering is contained within concrete parapets. Exposed scollops form a pattern on the block ridge and there is no exposure at the eaves. Each gable rises to a corbelled and moulded top chimneystack and there are similar features over the kitchen hearth and the inner wall of the Living Room. The right hand stack is provided with one pot.

The four panel entrance door with integral four pane mouth organ glazing in the upper part is flanked to the right (north-west) by one and to the left by two 6/6 vertically sliding windows with exposed framing and sills of traditional depths. There are no sash stops. Above each of these windows a light of similar construction occurs but of 3/3 format. All of the openings on the front elevation are set in plain cement surrounds. There is a plain sashed vertically sliding window in the right hand (north-west) gable.

The rear of the house has had a timber-framed conservatory added that provides covered access from the house to the annex.

From the north-west corner before reaching the conservatory the fenestration consists of a vertically sliding window with sashes divided into two horizontally. The frame is not exposed, there are sash stops and the sill is of traditional depth. Next there is a pair of 3x2 casements with exposed framing and a sill of intermediate depth. Above this is a 3x2 casement window lighting a bedroom.

The rear entrance and a 6/6 vertically sliding window that provides light to the living room are within the conservatory. This is also the case with a 3x2 casement window lighting a bedroom.

A pitched roof dormer, with timber bargeboard and fascias, has been inserted into the thatch covering to provide light and headroom for the bathroom. The associated window is 6/6 vertically sliding with exposed framing, sash stops and narrow sill.

The annex has a 3/3 vertically sliding window with exposed framing, sash stops and sill of traditional depth at the rear, a part glazed door at the side and a 6/6 vertically sliding window with exposed framing, sash stops and a sill of traditional depth above.

Historical information

A house is shown on this site on the OS map of 1832 and all others thereafter. The building is recorded in the first valuation of c.1837 as the home of Jonathan Peel, with dimensions given as 45ft x 20 x 12, (the same as today minus the later additions of the annex etc.), with a large range of single-storey thatched outbuildings, mainly set on the opposite side of the road, also recorded. The valuers describe the property as ‘neat’ and the rateable value calculated at the relatively high sum of £5-14-0, with the quality letter ‘2B+’ indicating that the house was considered to be at least 20 years old at point, and possibly considerably older. The name Peel, at least, is recorded in Legatirriff in 1729, with a Mark Peel marked as a major landholder in the townland in an estate map of that year, however documentation concerning this house prior to the 1830s is lacking.

The same details recorded in the 1834 valuation are supplied in second valuation book of 1859, the implication being that no alterations had been carried out to the property in the interim, however by this stage the rateable value had dropped by 4/-. The later 19th and early 20th century valuations note no changes to the house or outbuildings, with Jonathan Peel giving way to James Peel in 1889, who remained there until 1916 at least.

The roof was re-thatched in 1976 by Robert Douglas using straw, at the same time was made flameproof. The covering was repaired by Irish Thatchers Ltd. In 1981, with emergency repairs carried out by Bob Stevenson later that year following damage caused by birds.

In spring 1985, Dr Alan Gailey agreed to the replacement of roof timbers and an alteration to the roof pitch; the subsequent re-thatching was undertaken by Bob Stevenson using reed. Brian Rogers of Sligo repaired the thatch in 1992 using rye straw. In the 1994 survey part of the roof structure was noted as ‘modern’

References- Primary sources
1 PRONI D.427/4 Hertford / Wallace Estate Papers- ‘A Survey of part of the estate of the Hon. Francis Conway in Ye County of Antrim & Kingdom of Ireland by I.S. Anno 1729’ (1729)
2 PRONI VAL/1A/1/63 OS map, County Antrim sheet 63, with valuation
references (1832-c.38)
3 PRONI VAL/1B/167 First valuation, Ballinderry (1834)
4 PRONI VAL/2A/1/63A OS map, County Antrim sheet 63, with valuation references (1857-c.59)
5 PRONI VAL/2B/1/58A Second valuation, Ballinderry (1859)
6 PRONI VAL/12B/8/8A-E Annual valuation revision books, Glenavy ED (1864-1929)

Secondary sources

1 Brett, C.E.B., ‘The Buildings of County Antrim’ (Belfast, 1996), p.221 [Erroneous valuation details regarding Legatirriff House are quoted in this book.]
2 Survey of thatched buildings 1992, Report by Colin Hatrick to EHS.
Monitoring of thatched buildings, report by Colin Hatrick to EHS, 16 June 1994.

Other references

General correspondence in EHS file since listing.

The house is shown as existing on the 1832 OS map.
A small outbuilding at the rear matching that on the 1966 OS map appears on the 1857 OS map.
Re-thatching was carried out by Robert Douglas, Ballygowan using wheat straw in 1976 and the roof was flameproofed.
Irish Thatchers Ltd. repaired the roof covering in 1981.
Bob Stevenson carried out emergency repairs in 1981 after bird damage.
Part of the roof structure was noted as “modern” at the time of the 1994 survey.
Dr Alan Gailey agreed on 9 May 1985 to replacement of roof timbers including alteration of the roof pitch.
Re-thatching by Bob Stevenson using reed was carried out in 1985.
Repair of the reed thatch using rye straw was completed by Brian Rogers from Sligo in 1992.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
H-. Alterations detracting from building
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest
Z. Rarity

Evaluation

A two storey, three bay, lobby entry thatched house with a one and a half storey annex on the south-east gable. The building faces north east and is located on the south west side of Lough Road about a mile from the main road, that is, the main road from the Moira roundabout northwards towards Glenavy. Very few two storey thatched buildings survive. Legatirriff House has retained most of the early features in the course of adaptation for modern occupation and the plan is little altered. The annex on the south-east gable of the main house has been adapted for use as a separate living unit and the corrugated iron roof has been replaced with a thatched covering. The conservatory was erected to provide a more convenient access to the annexe but does not detract overall.
The house is of at least early 19th. C origin but could be much earlier.