house

Detached four-bay single-storey vernacular house, built c. 1820, having modern flat-roofed single-storey extension to rear (south-west). Pitched straw thatched roof with two rendered chimneystacks (one to the south-east gable end and one offset to the north-west side of centre). Felt roof to extension. Roughcast rendered walls over smooth rendered plinth. Square-headed window openings having smooth rendered reveals and six-over-six pane timber sliding sash windows. Square-headed door opening (offset to the south-east side of centre) having smooth rendered reveal and replacement half-glazed timber door. Set back slightly back from small country road in the rural landscape to the north-east of Killybegs. Garden to the rear (south-west) and south.

This well-maintained thatched vernacular house retains its early form and character, and is an appealing feature in the rural landscape to the north-east of Killybegs. 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, now sadly becoming increasingly rare in Donegal. It also retains timber sliding sash windows, which adds to its integrity and visual appeal. The location of the chimneystacks suggests that this building is of the ‘direct entry’ type that is characteristic of the vernacular tradition in north-west Ireland, and also hints that this building was extended to the north-west by a bay at some stage. This house represents a fine surviving example of a once ubiquitous building type in the rural Irish countryside, and is a valuable addition to the vernacular heritage of County Donegal.