Outbuilding in Urrismenagh

Complex of four single-storey vernacular outbuildings around three sides of yard, four-bay to east, two and four-bay to north and single-bay to west, built c. 1820. Modernised farm house to south. Barrel-vaulted tar roofs with concrete gable copings, formerly rendered. Limewashed rubble stone walls. Square-headed door and window openings, timber-framed painted panelled single and double doors. Located to the west of Clonmany, close to the Lough Swilly shoreline.

This good collection of rustic vernacular rubble stone outbuildings, of probable early nineteenth-century origins, survives in good condition and still in use. This complex represents an important survival incorporating barrel-vaulted tar roofing typical of the region. The form of this roofs with rounded profiles suggests that they were formerly thatched. Felt and tar roofing is a vernacular tradition in Donegal in its own right, and roofs of this type frequently replaced earlier thatched roofs. This complex of outbuildings adds character to the wider scenic setting to the west of Clonmany, adjacent to Lough Swilly, and is an integral element of the extensive vernacular heritage of the local area. Buildings marked on Ordnance Survey first edition six-inch map of c. 1837.