13 Kearney Village

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Two storey gabled former barn, with one and a half storey extension, converted to a dwelling house in 1996-97. The building sits in the centre of Kearney Village (itself c.3 miles E of Portaferry), just to the S of the village car park.

Front (S) elevation of larger section has left of centre timber and glazed door, with sash window and vertical astragals, to right of door, with door similar to before, with two pane adjoining window, to the left. Small sash window to right of second door. To right of this window, is flight of stone steps which lead to first floor double timber door set in half dormer with mono pitch roof. Two single pane (tilting) windows to first floor of larger section to left of double door. Steps are built across the front elevation of the single storey extension, which has a sliding sash and case window and timber and glazed door to right of steps.

East gable (of extension) has sliding sash attic window, with similar, but slightly larger window to first floor of west gable.

Rear (N) face of extension has a sash window to left with plain sheeted timber door to right. Rear of larger section has two small single pane first floor windows (as first floor front), with small four pane window to left on ground floor, with larger sash window to right.

Larger section unrendered but painted, with extension finished in plain render and painted. Roofs of sections of building gabled and covered with Bangor blue slates. Two rendered chimney stacks to roof of larger section. Small cast iron skylight in front elevation of extension roof. Cast iron gutters and down spouts.

Historical information

A longer building is shown on this site on the 1860 OS map, (but not that of 1834), which may in part correspond with that we see today. The building was originally a barn. The extension to the east gable appears to have been added in the mid 20th century (and was originally flat roofed), but it appears to have replaced an earlier structure. The whole building was converted to a dwelling house in 1996-97.

KEARNEY VILLAGE
In early medieval times, the townland of Kearney was a possession of the McKearneys, a family possibly distantly related to the O’Neills of Tyrone. During the later medieval period this land came into the possession of the Gaelicised Norman family of the Savages, who appear to have leased much of it to the Smiths, a dependent family of similar origin. A lease from Patrick Savage to Patrick Smith from 1643 mentions what was then one of the most lucrative aspects of Kearney, ‘the mill, mill ponds and watercourses’, from which the landlord received at not inconsiderable income.

By the later 17th century the Savages had leased much of Kearney to the Ross family (of Rosstrevor) who continued in possession of the lands throughout the 18th century. It is from a lease of March 1729 that we have the first indication of a substantial settlement on the site of the present village. This settlement was to grow throughout the remainder of the century, with locals employed on the local farms and the two near by flax and corn mills, whilst supplementing their incomes by salvaging the not infrequent shipwrecks, and perhaps smuggling. Wrecking may have taken place also.

The village probably reached its greatest extent in terms of population and activity in the 1830s, when there were 33 families, two schools (one C of I and Catholic, the other Presbyterian), and a ‘ceilidh house’. Most of the buildings we see today appear to have been present at this time, but as most were exempt from rating, very little is recorded of the village in the 1836 valuation in terms of house dimensions and occupiers*. The only dwellings which are mentioned are three single storey houses, occupied by Hugh and John McNabb and Widow Hasty (who owned the close by windmill).

The slow decline in Kearney’s fortunes began in the latter half of the nineteenth century and by 1900 the population had halved, many seeking more prosperous lives in the towns, or emigrating. By 1938 most of the Kearney farms and cottages had passed into the possession of Hugh Orr, who had established a model farm close by. The decline continued unabated, however, so that by 1945 only three houses were occupied by a total of seven residents. When the National Trust acquired the village twenty years later (with money collected during the Enterprise Neptune campaign), it was practically a ghost town.

Since 1965, the Trust have attempted to restore and reconstruct Kearney based on the plan of the village as shown on the 1834 OS Map, when the settlement had probably reached its zenith. Most of the houses are now occupied as full time homes once more, with a few as holiday residences, with all properties leased from the Trust.

Currently only one of the original dwellings lies vacant awaiting imminent restoration.

*The second valuation poses similar problems for the buildings in the village are not individually numbered on the valuation map, thus making it very difficult (if not impossible) to put the name of an occupant to a dwelling.

References- Primary sources
1 PRONI D.552 Savage/Nugent Papers
2 PRONI OS/6/3/32/1 Ordnance Survey Maps, 1st ed., 1834, Down sheet 32
3 PRONI VAL/1B/38 First valuation, Parish of Ballytrustan, 1836
4 PRONI OS/6/3/32/2 Ordnance Survey Maps, 1st rev., 1860, Down sheet 32
5 PRONI Second valuation, Parish of Ballytrustan, 1861 (in print)
6 PRONI OS/6/3/32/3 Ordnance Survey maps, 2nd ed., 1899-1900, Down sheet 32
7 Admiralty Chart of Strangford Lough, surveyed by Richard Hoskyn Master R.N. 1859-60, with small corrections 1918-38 (HMSO)

Secondary sources
1 The above history was mainly compiled from various articles kindly supplied to the authors by the National Trust, in particular one by Mrs. M.A.K. Garner, charting the early history of Kearney
2 Jim Blaney, "Mary Ann Donnan of Kearney" in 'Journal of the Upper Ards Historical Society No.3' (1979), pp.24-5
3 Reta Lyttle, "Kearney" in 'Journal of the Upper Ards Historical Society No.4' (1980), p.15

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Two storey gabled former barn of probable mid 19th century construction, with one and a half storey mid 20th century extension, all converted to a dwelling house in 1996-97.