House in Meenabaltin, County Donegal

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Detached four-bay single-storey vernacular house, built c. 1870, with bed outshot to rear. Pitched thatch roof with smooth rendered chimneystacks to gables with rendered coping. Roughcast rendered walls. Square-headed window openings with timber casement windows and painted sills. Square-headed door opening with glazed timber panelled door. Attached single-storey outbuilding with pitched corrugated-metal roof to south gable and ruined outbuildings to north gable. Single-storey outbuilding comprising rubble stone walls and pitched thatch roof to east of site.

Although now disused, this vernacular thatched house still retains a sound structure and its characteristic bed outshot to the rear. Modest in architectural ambition it exhibits the simple and functional form of vernacular building in Ireland. Of particular interest in the survival of the thatch roof to the extension to the west, 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. The form of this building and location of the chimneystacks suggests the main dwelling is of the ‘direct entry’ type that is characteristic of the vernacular tradition in north-west Ireland. The loss of the original fabric to the openings detracts somewhat from its appeal though suitable replacements could easily be installed. 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. Thatched buildings, still relatively common in Inishowen, nationally are becoming increasingly rare making their survival a matter of importance. The thatched outbuilding is a rare and unusual survival, and adds significantly to this site.

From the Buildings of Ireland (National Inventory of Architectural Heritage) record 40903003

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Photo credits

Maker not stated on source page, www.irelandbeforeyoudie.com
National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
Maker not stated on source page, commons.wikimedia.org
Maker not stated on source page, en.wikipedia.org
Richard Webb, Wikimedia Commons
Kenneth Allen, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0
Maker not stated on source page, www.tripadvisor.ie
Maker not stated on source page, www.youtube.com
Gaelic Life; individual aerial photographer not named, www.gaeliclife.com
Andreas F. Borchert, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

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