House — 16th/17th century in An Fhothair (tc An Ardaidh)

Faugher House: In 1611, Tirlagh Roe O'Boyle was granted some 2,000 acres in the barony of Kilmacrenan which included, inter alia, the lands of Faugher (Hill 1877, 328; Trench 1945, 96-8). In 1619 O'Boyle is described as having 'built a good bawn and a house of lime and stone in which he with his family dweleth' (Hill 1877, 526). He mortgaged the lands to John Stanton, whose wife is recorded as living there in 1622. The house is described in that year as 'of clay and stone rough cast with lime, 48 ft long, 25 ft broad and 13 ft high . . . Adjoining to this house, there are 3 stone houses and a timber house, thatched' (Simmington 1937, 136; Treadwell 1953-5, 43). The lands were forfeited by O'Boyle as a result of the 1641 rebellion. They were regranted to Sir John Stephens and were sold by his assignee, Hugh Hamil, to William Wray in 1700; the Wrays had been living there for some 30 years previous (Trench 1945, 94-7). The house was abandoned during the 18th century and is marked as 'Castle Ruins' in Taylor and Skinner (1778, 231). The remains comprise an irregular five bay three-storey house with attic and entrance at first-floor level set centrally in a rectangular bawn (DG016-024002-), 34.3m x 29.4m internally, which had four corner towers. Sited on a slope, there is a gradual rise in ground level from S to N; this rise is markedly less within the bawn, where some attempt has been made to raise the ground level, particularly on the SE. House. The harled, gabled, three-storey house survives to full height and is built of split stone and rubble laid in a coarse mortar; the E gable chimney, having been struck by lightning, fell c. 30 years ago. The windows and doorways are lintelled and have a relieving arch above; all had timber frames. The house was roughly square in plan 9.75m x 9.1m internally with walls .61m thick. Each floor was divided into four rooms by two crosswalls rising the full height of the house, the N-S wall giving added support to the ridge. The first floor was supported by massive E-W joists, the surviving holes for which average c. 35cms by c. 30cms. The ground floor, which is part basement, contained the kitchen at the SE, where the remains of a large fireplace and brick-lined oven survive. There is a rectangular opening at floor level in the E wall just S of the fireplace. The landowner records a flag-covered tunnel or passage outside this wall of the house (3 ft wide by 3 ft deep); it might be the remains of a drain similar to that which discharges itself at the foot of the S bawn wall. This opening may have connected with the drain or tunnel. Part of the N wall of the NE room has fallen and the surviving ingoings indicate the former presence of a door and window in this area. The lower courses of a secondary crosswall survive in the NW room. Access to the first floor was probably by a wooden stairs along the E face of the N-S crosswall. The main entrance to the house was at this level and the porch is a secondary addition; the E wall has almost completely fallen. The windows in this floor are of uniform size, c. 1.2m high by c. 0.84m wide. On the second floor, they are of similar size in the gable walls, but being just below eaves-level in the N and S walls are c. 1m high. The fireplaces are in the corners of the rooms adjoining the gables or in the case of the SW rooms flank the flue from the kitchen fireplace; only the SW attic room has a fireplace. The sloping mantels supported on wooden cross beams (some charred stumps remain) survive in the NE, NW and SW rooms of the first floor; the remaining fireplaces had single-slab lintels supported by a wooden beam (now missing). The SW first-floor room was probably the principal living room in the house, and has two wall-presses (E wall 1.8m high; N wall .95m high); it alone led to the NW room. Access to the second floor was probably by a wooden stairs (possibly with a quarter turn or dog-legged) along the E face of the N-S cross wall in the NE room. A section of the N wall of this room has fallen. There is evidence for the secondary blocking of some openings on the second floor, and the fireplace in the SE room was reduced in width and given a segment-headed, arched lintel. There are small attic rooms above; the NE, NW and SW have small gable windows. The bawn (DG016-024002-) is possibly early 17th century in date and is probably that which was erected by O'Boyle. The house is certainly later than that described in the 1622 report and might well have been built when the Wrays came to reside there in the second half of the 17th century. The nature of this settlement is further reflected in the names of two fields on the S of Faugher House, namely 'the kitchen garden' and 'the orchard'. The above description was derived from the 'Archaeological Survey of County Donegal. A description of the field antiquities of the County from the Mesolithic Period to the 17th century.' Compiled by: Brian Lacey with Eamon Cody, Claire Cotter, Judy Cuppage, Noel Dunne, Vincent Hurley, Celie O'Rahilly, Paul Walsh and Seán Ó Nualláin (Lifford: Donegal County Council, 1983). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated. Date of upload: 22 September 2008