House in Ballytoran

Early seventeenth century house depicted on the 1840 ed. OSi 6-inch map as a T-plan house with a range of buildings annotated 'Old Distillery' immediately to NE of house. Vernacular thatched house now with a corrugated roof was described by O'Reilly (2004, 57) as; 'a large farmhouse at Ballytoran townland, Kilcomin, that is certainly early seventeenth century. It was first noted by Maurice Craig in 1973. It has four bays (and possibly has a blocked fifth bay) and is two-storeyed. It has stout chimney-stacks with diagonally set chimneys typical of the period. It was thatched until recent decades when the straw was removed and the roof covered in corrugated iron but retains a sod under-thatch. It is the most intact early building in the county with surviving evidence of its thatched roof'. The house was described by Craig (1973) as 'an eighteenth century farmhouse, gable-ended with a façade of four bays and two storeys'. This house known locally as 'Ballytoran House' was described by the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage (NIAH) as a; 'Detached four-bay two-storey former thatched miller's house, built c.1640, with additional bay blocked up and ruined return with remains of a hearth to rear. Entrance porch added c.1970, single-storey to rear. Single-storey lean-to extension to north-west facing side gable wall. Pitched corrugated-iron roof with sod beneath and rendered chimneystacks set diagonally. Pebbledashed walls. Square-headed window openings with timber casement windows and stone sills. Square-headed door opening to porch. This former miller's house is a valuable example of a seventeenth-century house and displays many of the architectural motifs of a house from that period including its single pile form, steeply pitched roof, thick walls, diagonal chimneystacks and small window openings. The roof is now covered with corrugated-iron sheet but the present owner had uncovered the remains of sods and thatch to the roof, conclusive evidence that this substantial early house was once thatched. The wide central staircase is an impressive interior feature. This house together with the mill and outbuildings to the north and east form an interesting group of related structures' (NIAH Reg. No. 14941007; https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/14941007/ballytoran-house-ballytoran-kilcomin-offaly). Compiled and revised by: Caimin O'Brien Date of revised upload: 5 October 2022