Árd na Farraige

Detached five-bay single-storey thatched cottage, c.1800, retaining early fenestration. Renovated and extended, c.1975, comprising two-bay single-storey flat-roofed return to west. Hipped roof with replacement reed thatch, c.1975, in English style having rope work to ridge, and roughcast squat chimney stack. Flat mineral felt roof to return with plastic rainwater goods on timber eaves. Painted replacement cement rendered walls, c.1975. Square-headed window openings with rendered sills (concrete sills to return). 1/1 timber sash windows to front (east) elevation having margins, louvered timber external shutters, and 2/2 timber sash windows to rear (west) elevation (timber casement windows to return). Square-headed door opening with timber panelled door. Set back from road in own grounds with gravel forecourt, landscaped grounds to site, and roughcast boundary wall having cut-stone piers, and wrought iron double gates.

A pleasant, modest-scale cottage forming an important element of the vernacular heritage of County Waterford as identified by attributes including the long, low massing, the construction in locally-sourced materials, and the thatched roof. Well maintained, the cottage presents an early aspect with a range of important salient features and materials intact, which enhance the character of the site. The margins to the fittings to the openings add a formal quality to the composition, while an additional range has been carefully planned so as not to impinge on the integrity of the original position. The cottage remains an important feature in the townscape of Dunmore East, and represents a traditional form and scale that is lacking in later interpretations of the thatched cottage model.