Ballybrennan House

Detached three-bay two-storey farmhouse with half-dormer attic, extant 1840, on a T-shaped plan centred on single-bay single-storey flat-roofed projecting glazed porch to ground floor. Occupied, 1911. Part restructured, pre-1940, producing present composition. Refenestrated, ----. Pitched slate roof with clay ridge tiles, concrete or rendered coping to gables with rendered chimney stacks to apexes having concrete capping supporting terracotta or yellow terracotta octagonal pots, and cast-iron rainwater goods on rendered slate flagged eaves retaining cast-iron downpipes. Rendered, ruled and lined battered wall to front (south) elevation with rendered quoins to ends; lime rendered or roughcast surface finish (remainder). Segmental-headed central door opening into farmhouse with cut-granite step threshold, and cut-granite block-and-start surround centred on keystone framing timber panelled double doors having overlight. Square-headed window openings originally in tripartite arrangement with cut-granite sills, and concealed dressings framing replacement uPVC casement windows replacing six-over-six timber sash windows having two-over-two sidelights. Square-headed window openings to rear (north) elevation centred on square-headed window opening (half-landing) with cut-granite sills, and concealed dressings framing replacement uPVC casement windows replacing six-over-six timber sash windows. Interior including (ground floor): central hall retaining timber surrounds to door openings framing timber panelled doors; and timber surrounds to door openings to remainder framing timber panelled doors with timber panelled shutters to window openings. Set in landscaped grounds with rendered piers to perimeter having shallow pyramidal capping supporting crocketed wrought iron gates.

A farmhouse erected by Richard Jones (d. 1852; Lewis 1837 I, 124) representing an integral component of the early nineteenth-century domestic built heritage of south County Wexford with the architectural value of the composition, one repurposing a "castle" held (1591) by Richard Synnott [SMR WX048-001001-], suggested by such attributes as the compact rectilinear plan form centred on a restrained doorcase demonstrating good quality workmanship in a silver-grey granite, albeit one partly concealed behind a later porch; the pronounced battered silhouette; the uniform or near-uniform proportions of the centralised openings on each floor with those openings originally showing Wyatt-style tripartite glazing patterns; and the high pitched roofline: meanwhile, a feint masonry break illustrates the partial reconstruction of the farmhouse in the early twentieth century. Having been well maintained, the elementary form and massing survive intact together with substantial quantities of the original fabric, both to the exterior and to the interior: the introduction of replacement fittings to most of the openings, however, has not had a beneficial impact on the character or integrity of the composition. Furthermore, adjacent limewashed outbuildings (extant 1840); and a truncated windmill tower (see 15704802), all continue to contribute positively to the group and setting values of a self-contained ensemble having subsequent connections with John Eyre (d. 1911), 'Hotel Proprietor late of White's Hotel and Ballybrennan County Wexford' (Calendars of Wills and Administrations 1911, 175).