Farm house in Gortacurra

Detached four-bay single-storey direct entry thatched farmhouse, extant 1838. Reroofed, 2005. Pitched roof with replacement reed thatch, exposed steel lattice stretchers to raised ridge having blind steel scallops, rendered chimney stack having shallow capping, and rough hewn limestone crow stepped coping to gables with rendered chimney stack to apex (east) having shallow capping. Limewashed lime rendered battered walls over coursed rubble limestone construction with hammered or squared limestone flush quoins to corners. Square-headed window openings with limewashed shallow sills, and concealed dressings framing one-over-one timber sash windows having part exposed sash boxes with one casement window having cast-iron lattice glazing bars. Square-headed opposing door openings with concealed dressings framing timber boarded or tongue-and-groove timber panelled doors. Interior including kitchen retaining limewashed hearth, timber boarded opposing doors, and timber boarded vaulted ceiling. Set back from road in unkempt grounds.

A farmhouse identified as an important relic of the much-depleted vernacular heritage of Gortacurra by such attributes as the rectilinear direct entry plan form; the construction in unrefined local fieldstone displaying a battered silhouette; and the crow stepped roof showing a replenished thatch finish. Having been reasonably well maintained, the elementary form and massing survive intact together with substantial quantities of the historic or original fabric, both to the exterior and to the interior, thereby upholding the character or integrity of the composition. Furthermore, an adjacent outbuilding (extant 1894) continues to contribute positively to the group and setting values of a self-contained ensemble making a pleasing, if largely inconspicuous visual statement in a rural street scene.