House in Affoley

Detached four-bay single-storey lobby-entry thatched house, built c. 1800, having windbreak to door. Hipped reed thatched roof with red brick chimneystack. Painted rendered walls with painted quoin band. Square-headed openings, having decorative render keystone over doorway, with replacement windows and door. No openings to rear elevation. Painted rendered garden walls to front of house, yard between garden and road, with rubble stone pier and stile to road entrance. Outbuildings to site, that to south-east having pitched corrugated-iron roof and rendered walls.

The form of this thatched house is typical of the vernacular tradition of South Tipperary. Thatched structures were once commonly found all over Ireland but are now becoming increasingly rare, so the well-kept condition of this now vacant home is to be applauded. Although some of its features have been replaced, the irregular walls, the small openings, the small garden enclosed by rendered walls, and the lobby entry are pointers to its vernacular origin. Visible from the road, it is an interesting contributor to the architectural heritage in the Modeshil area.