house

Attached four-bay single-storey vernacular house, built c. 1800, with single-storey outbuildings to east gable; modern house extension to west gable. Pitched corrugated-metal roof with smooth rendered gable coping and smooth rendered chimneystack to east gable. Roughcast rendered and whitewashed walls. Square-headed window openings with two-over-two pane horned timber sliding sash windows. Central square-headed door opening with battened timber door. Set within farmyard with contemporaneous outbuildings with pitched corrugated metal roofs, roughcast rendered and whitewashed walls and square-headed openings to east gable. Set within farmyard with modern farm buildings to north and east.

Although no longer in use as a dwelling, this relatively intact example of a vernacular house retains its early form and character, and is an appealing feature in the scenic rural landscape to the north of Buncrana. Its integrity is enhanced by the retention of much of its salient fabric including timber sliding sash windows and battened timber door. Modest in architectural ambition it exhibits the simple and functional form of vernacular building in Ireland. The pitched corrugated-metal roof suggests that this building was originally or formerly thatched, and its reinstatement would add significantly to the character of this building. The form of this building and 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. The irregularly-spaced and sized window openings to the front add to the charm of this vernacular structure. Sensitively restored, this building would make a strongly positive contribution to its pleasant rural location, and would be an integral element of the built heritage of the local area.