House — 16th/17th century in Lifford

The physical layout of the town is described in the Urban Survey as 'The core of the seventeenth century Lifford was concentrated on the Diamond and on the street running SW from it towards the modern bridge, then the site of a ferry. It was presumably in this area that the twentyone houses, built for Sir Richard Hansard by 1611, were located. The presence of a burgage plot pattern on the street running NW from the town, past Ballyduff House, suggests that it too may be of seventeenth century origin. Indeed it may have been the location of the 27 cottages referred to in 1611. In 1603 Sir Henry Dowcra was granted the right to hold a weekly market at Lifford, while in the incorporation charter of 1612 it is stated that the market should be held on Mondays. The market place was evidently located in the Diamond. An account of 1600 refers to Lifford as having "some eighty houses" (CSPI 1600-1, 93). There is no information on the form of these houses, however. By 1611 there were some 21 half-timbered houses in the town and 37 cottages, while in 1622 the town had at least 54 houses. Evidence for inns is indicated by the fact that the inhabitants of Lifford were "able to give entertainment to passengers" shortly after the foundation of the town (Robinson 1984, 173).' (Bradley & Dunne 1989, 53-4).