House in Raws Upper

Detached three-bay single-storey vernacular house, built c. 1820, having single-storey outbuildings attached to either gable end (north-west and south-east), and with bed outshot to the rear (south-west) at the north-west end of dwelling. Currently unoccupied. Pitched corrugated-metal roof with smooth rendered chimneystacks, and raised smooth rendered verges to gable ends (north-west and south-east). Rendered painted rubble stone walls with raised smooth rendered block-and-start quoins to north-west end of the front elevation (north-east). Square headed window openings with smooth rendered reveals, painted stone sills, and one-over-one pane timber sliding sash windows with vertical margin glazing bars. Central square-headed door opening to front elevation (north-east) having battened timber half-door. Fireplace visible in interior with wooden mantel. Single-storey outbuilding to the north-west gable end having pitched corrugated-metal roof, rubble stone walls, and square-headed doorways with battened timber doors. Set back from road in own grounds to the south of Castlefinn. Site accessed by laneway from road to the east. Located a short distance to the north of the border with County Tyrone\Northern Ireland.

Although no longer in use as a dwelling, this appealing and 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 south of Castlefinn. Its integrity is enhanced by the retention of much of its salient fabric including timber sliding sash windows and battened timber half-door. Modest in scale, it exhibits the simple and functional form of vernacular building in Ireland. It retains some characteristic features of the vernacular tradition to the area, including a bed outshot to the rear. The steeply pitched corrugated-metal roof to the dwelling indicates that this building was formerly thatched. The form of this building, having chimneystacks to the gable ends and a central doorway to the original building, suggests that this building is of the ‘direct entry’ type that is characteristic of the vernacular tradition in north-west Ireland. The attached but altered rubble stone outbuildings to site add to the context and setting, and help to create a long low vernacular composition of some rustic and visual appeal. This house represents a surviving example of a once ubiquitous building type in the rural Irish countryside, and is an addition to the vernacular heritage of County Donegal.