25 Ballymote Road

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A single-storey, hearth-lobby, three-bay vernacular dwelling pre-dating 1830. Located at the end of a long lane off the Ballymote Road, north of the Lisburn Road, Approximately 1.5 miles southeast of Glenavy.

Pitched corrugated tin roof with timber fascia board; uPVC replacement guttering with cast-iron downpipes. Brick chimney with corbelled upper course. Field stone walling; lime rendered to the principal elevation; red brick upper courses at eaves level. 6/6 and 2/2 (horizontally divided) timber sliding sash windows; stone cills and timber lintels. Ledge-and braced timber sheeted front door.

The principal elevation faces west and is asymmetrically arranged. Gabled porch entrance abuts the façade left of centre and comprises and shallow pitched slated roof with decorative timber barge boards; small windows to the left and right cheeks. Single window to the right and two to the left.

The left elevation is blank; partially of brick construction. Remains of possible earlier abutting outbuilding; now deteriorated.

The rear elevation is asymmetrically arranged with various sized window openings. A distinct break in the rubble walling suggesting an additional bay.

The right gable is blank.

Setting:

The dwelling has a secluded
setting at the end of a long lane comprising right angle corners. View from the public road is obscured by mature trees and vegetation. The immediate grounds to the front are well maintained with open-rural landscape beyond. North of the dwelling is a flat roof garage; adapted from an earlier rubble building; to the south is a small corrugated tin mono-pitch outbuilding.

Roofing: Corrugated tin
Walling: Rubble/lime rendered
Windows: Timber sliding sash
RWG: Cast-iron/uPVC replacement

Historical information

The parish of Glenavy comprises a low-lying fertile agricultural area to the east of Lough Neagh, with the upper part of the parish giving way to hilly pasture. (Parliamentary Gazetteer, p.264) The first edition map of 1832-3 shows the area dotted with cottages and farmsteads and it has remained largely agricultural up to the present day. Lewis’s topographical survey of 1837 found that ‘the soil is well cultivated, and there is very little waste land or bog’. A quarterly fair in Glenavy town was principally ‘for horned cattle and pigs’ and there was also access to additional income from the cotton and linen industries, ‘[In Glenavy] is a large cotton-mill, and much flax is spun and woven in the cottages.’ (Lewis, p.658)

The current house is sited within the better arable land in the district, lying between the 100 foot and 300 foot contours, the land below 100 feet being liable to flooding in winter and that above 300 feet running to pasture, furze and rough grazing. The whole area was subject to a decline in population during the second half of the nineteenth century when a drift began from rural districts into Belfast and in many cases, only the older generation remained to work the farmland. (Ulster Folklife Society) The current house is an example of the hearth-lobby type which is prevalent in this area and throughout much of central and south-west Ulster. (Ulster Folklife Society)

The present house is shown on the first edition map of 1832-3 as a single range farmhouse with a large irregularly-shaped ‘fort’ or rath to the west. There is no other rath shown in the townland and it may be surmised that the name of the townland, ‘Ballymote’ or town of the mote relates to this feature, mote being an archaic form of motte or rath. The house is not listed in the Townland Valuation as it would not have reached the threshold for inclusion. An additional bay, probably an outbuilding, to the north of the farmhouse is shown on the first edition but is unroofed by the second edition (1858). It appears to have been built up again on subsequent editions, but is today derelict.

Griffith’s Valuation lists the house as the home of tenant farmer Hugh Loughlin, who leases the house and over 17 acres of land from the Marquess of Hertford. The house and outbuildings are valued at £1. There are several changes of occupier in the period covered by Annual Revisions, Francis Reid in 1874, Thomas Hall in 1878, Nathaniel Reid in 1879 and Nathaniel Hall in 1883 who becomes the owner in fee in 1893. Nathaniel Hall is listed in the 1901 census as a farmer of 66, unable to read or write who lived in the house with his wife. Nathaniel Hall died in March 1906 leaving the considerable sum, for the time and his situation, of £375.15s.3d. His wife Rachel died a matter of days later. (Wills of Nathaniel Hall and Rachel Hall) The cottage could not be identified in the 1911 census and may have been vacant at the time, but no further changes are noted in Annual Revisions. The house remains in use as a domestic dwelling. (Annual Revisions)

References:

Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/1/59/1 – First Edition OS Map 1832-3
2. PRONI OS/6/1/59/2 – Second Edition OS map 1858
3. PRONI OS/6/1/59/3 – Third Edition OS Map 1901-02
4. PRONI OS/6/1/59/4 – Fourth Edition OS Map 1920-21
5. PRONI VAL/12/B/8/12A-E – Annual Revisions (1863-1929)
6. PRONI Will of Nathaniel Hall, died 30/3/1906
7. PRONI Will of Rachel Hall, died 12/4/1906
8. Griffith’s Valuation online
9. 1901 census online
10. 1911 census online

Secondary Sources

1. Lewis, Samuel. “A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland” London: S. Lewis & Co., 1837
2. “Parliamentary Gazetteer of Ireland” Dublin, London & Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co, 1846
3. Ulster Folklife Society “Field Excursions in Ulster, Ballinderry and district, County Antrim” Holywood: Ulster Folk and Transport Museum, 1982

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

A single-storey, hearth-lobby, three bay vernacular dwelling pre-dating 1830. Externally the dwelling has retained much of its early character and features of interest; however the thatch was completely removed and replaced with corrugated tin c.1960 and no historic roof structure remians. The interior has undergone some alterations, resulting in the loss of some if its original character, although the hearth-lobby plan form is still identifiable. The dwelling is adjacent to a rath that is a scheduled monument ANT059:073.