Bridge Cottage

Detached four-bay single-storey vernacular house, built c. 1860. Pitched/domed thatched roof (recently re-thatched with reed) having two rendered chimneystacks (one to the south gable end and one offset to the north side of centre). Metal pegs below eaves level (for securing ropes over thatch) to the south end of the main elevation (west), the rear elevation (east) and to the north and south gable ends. Smooth rendered walls with modern render cast lumps mimicking stonework. Square-headed window openings with replacement multi-pane timber windows. Square-headed door opening, offset to the south side of centre) having replacement timber sheeted door. Set slightly back from road in sunken site adjacent to stream. Located to the north of Dunkineely. Timber fence and hedge to road-frontage to the west.

Despite some alterations and the loss of some original fabric to the openings, this well-maintained thatched vernacular house retains much of its early form and character, and is an appealing feature in the rural landscape to the north of Dunkineely. Modest in scale, it exhibits the simple and functional form of vernacular building in Ireland. Of particular interest in the survival of the thatch roof, although recently renewed, which is now sadly becoming increasingly rare in Donegal. The rounded roof is a typical feature of thatched houses located close to the sea in exposed areas in the north-west of Ireland, while the pegs to the eaves were used to tie ropes (and sometimes nets) over the roof to secure it against the prevailing winds. The form of this building having chimneystacks to the gable ends suggests that this building is of the ‘direct entry’ type that is characteristic of the vernacular tradition in north-west Ireland. The location of the chimneystacks also indicates that this building has been extended to the north at some stage. This house represents a modest surviving example of a once ubiquitous building type in the rural Irish countryside, and is an integral element of the vernacular heritage of County Donegal.