Andrew Jackson Centre

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A single storey, five bay, direct entry thatched building with whitened plastered walls.

The building faces north-west at the rear of a small forecourt bounded by a low whitened wall with a single leaf metal entrance gate. The site is accessed by turning south for a short distance towards Belfast Lough off the Carrickfergus/Whitehead road about a mile and a half from the centre of the former town.

The flax roof covering is contained within plastered skews. There are two corbelled chimneystacks, one serving the kitchen hearth and the other over the fireplace in the display gallery to the right of the kitchen.

To the right (south-west) of the thatched section a suite of ancillary rooms are roofed with natural slate and rainwater goods are of cast iron.

On the front elevation starting from the north-east corner the sequence of openings is as follows: -
A timber sheeted door to the byre, a timber sheeted door to the workshop, a 4/6 vertically sliding window, a timber sheeted door to the kitchen, a 6/3 vertically sliding window, two 4/2 vertically sliding windows, a timber sheeted door to a passage and finally a timber sheeted door that gives access to a projecting unit that serves as a male toilet.
There is a small opening in the north-east gable timber sheeted and protected with metal bars.

At the rear starting from the north-east corner there are two fixed lights, a timber sheeted door to the kitchen, a vertically sliding window with the sashes divided into two horizontally and two vertically sliding windows with plain lower sashes and with the upper sashes divided into two horizontally.

The first compartment of the ancillary accommodation is used as a female toilet protected by a wing wall and entered by a timber sheeted door with an attached window with horizontal division, then a timber sheeted door is followed by two timber sheeted doors with attached windows similar to the arrangement relating to the female toilet.

None of the window openings in the building are provided with sills.

Historical information

A building matching the present, appearing as two structures, is shown on this site on the OS map of 1832 / 33, but not noted in the near contemporary valuation. The property is recorded in the second valuation of c.1860,appearing as one unit, when it was leased by an Alexander Donaldson from Snowden Corcoran, and possessed a rateable value of £2-10-0.

The house is reputed to date from the mid 18th century and stands close to the site of the ancestral home of Andrew Jackson, the 7th President of the United States.Andrew Jackson (1767-1845) served as the seventh President of the United States of America from 1829 until 1837.His life story as lawyer, congressman, senator, judge, Indian fighter and Major-General is illustrated within the Centre.
Part of the structure was affected by fire in 1982. Jackson’s parents, Andrew and Elizabeth emigrated from Boneybefore, Carrickfergus in 1765 and their former house was demolished in the 1860s to make way for the adjacent railway line. and the stones were used to build another house nearby which incorporated a window from the old Jackson house. A railway survey indicates the site of the Jackson home and the location is marked by means of a commemorative plaque.

The property was acquired by Carrickfergus Borough Council in c.1980 and converted to a visitor centre, ‘The Andrew Jackson Centre’, celebrating the ancestry and life of the former President.The storage section of the building was re-roofed in 1992.

References- Primary sources

1 PRONI VAL/1A/1/53 OS map, County Antrim sheet 53, with valuation
references (1832 / 33-c.38)
2 PRONI VAL/2A/1/53B OS map, County Antrim sheet 55, with valuation references (1857-c.60)
3 PRONI VAL/2B/1/22A Second valuation, Eden (c.1860)

Secondary Sources.

Record card of first survey dated 20 April 1970
Survey of Thatched Buildings report by Colin Hatrick to EHS
Monitoring of Thatched Buildings report by Colin Hatrick to EHS 15 June 1994
Reports in EHS file.
D J McCartney, The Ulster Jacksons, published by Carrickfergus Borough Council
Eddie McIlwaine’s Saturday Diary, Belfast Telegraph, 14 June 1997
Eric Montgomery, The Scotch-Irish and Ulster, 1965, page 14 (drawing of President Andrew Jackson), pp 16 and 24 (photograph of the commemorative plaque)
Borough of Carrickfergus Guide, Page 17, page 19 (photograph of the commemorative memorial)
Official Guide, includes a photograph of Mayor, Alderman T J Patterson, O B.E., J.P beside the memorial
Ernest Sandford, Discover Northern Ireland, page 49
The Irish Americans, Pitkin Guide, page 12
Ulster-American Heritage Trail poster
Carrickfergus Tourist Service leaflet

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

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

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest
V. Authorship

Evaluation

A single storey, five bay, direct entry thatched building with whitened plastered walls.It faces north-west a short distance off the Carrickfergus / Whitehead road about a mile and a half from the centre of Carrickfergus. Conversion to a visitor centre was carried out retaining or replicating traditional detailing and further replacement was required as a result of the fire that occurred in 1982. The roof timbers using logs in traditional form is a reconstruction.The building is at least of early 19th. C origin, though possibly much older and is located close to the site of the ancestral home of Andrew Jackson, 7th. President of the United States.