Hollybrook House

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Exterior not surveyed in entirety or in detail.
In the first survey in 1971 the building was described as "A five bay, two storey house with roughcast walls and slated roof. Three dormers rise from the front face of the roof; sides are slate hung; windows are set in semi-circular headed opes. Chimneys are of red and yellow brickwork. Unrecessed sash windows have full glazing bars. The entrance door is flanked by sidelights and surmounted by a three pane full width rectangular fanlight, all enclosed within a plain surround rising to a cornice hood. Greek fret ornament over main entrance. A rear return with lower roof level is of similar character. Outbuildings are in poor condition." The general form of the building and the description of the entrance front remains the same, but the outbuildings are no longer in poor condition, having been improved.

Historical information

Precise date of building not known: the house was reputedly built in 1760 and believed to have been a property of the O'Neill family of Shane's Castle; it is referred to in a source of 1778, as the property of the Dickey family, mill-owners; a house is clearly indicated in this location on a map of 1782; and Hollybrook is referred to as the residence of a Mrs McManus by a source in 1833, but there is no description of the house in the Ordnance Survey Memoirs in the 1830s which merely refers to it being "unoccupied", while another source in 1837 merely refers to there being "excellent sites for bleach-greens and beetling-engines at Hollybrook". Whether these
references relate to the present two-storey main block or to a predecessor is uncertain, and the evidence of what appears on the OS maps of 1829 and 1858 is inconclusive, the present configuration being shown on the 1858 map with a different arrangement of smaller separate blocks being shown on the 1829 map. The present polychrome brick chimneys on the main front block and on the rear return indicate substantial later Victorian rebuilding, remodelling or additions. Without close inspection of the building inside all that can be stated about the present building as it stands is that it appears to be of at least early-to-mid 19th century date with later 19th century additions.

References – Primary Sources
1. G. Taylor and A. Skinner, Maps of the roads of Ireland (London, 1778).
2. J. Lendrick, A map of the County of Antrim from Actual Survey (London, 1782).
3. A. Atkinson, Ireland in the 19th century … seats and scenery of the north west district (London, 1833), pp 185-186.
4. Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Ireland, Vol 19: Parishes of County Antrim VI, 1830, 1833, 1835-8 (Belfast, 1993), p 81.
5. S. Lewis, A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland,Vol I (London, 1837), p 518.
6. OS Map 1829, Co Antrim 43 (appears without return).
7. OS Map 1858, Co Antrim 43 (return is shown).

Secondary Sources
1. UAHS, West Antrim (Belfast, 1970), p 21.
2. C.E.B. Brett, Buildings of County Antrim (UAHS, Belfast, 1996), p 158.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
I. Quality and survival of Interior

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

This is a fine late Georgian substantial farmhouse with outbuildings and a good setting.