Tinhalla House, County Tipperary (TS085-006----)

In flat terrain on the S bank of the River Suir. According to the Civil Survey (1654-6) ‘James Earl of Ormond’ was the proprietor of ‘Tynkally’ in 1640 and following confiscation ‘Tynkally’ and neighbouring land in the 1650s ‘belonges to Comissary Generall Reynolds’ (Simington 1942, vol. 6, 104). It states that of these lands the ‘chief howse is at Tynkally’ (ibid.). The house is depicted on the Down Survey maps (1655-58). The house is roughly aligned N-S (actually ENE-WSW) with the N gable facing the river. This is a two storey house (ext. dims. 20.83m x 7.24m; E and W walls 0.8m T; N gable 1m T; H 4.3m to eaves) with a six-bay ground floor and a four bay first floor to front and three-bay to rear, one room deep (int. Wth 6.25m) with two large chimneys in the rear wall which project externally (N chimney Wth 4m; D 0.89m; S chimney Wth 2.59m; D 0.74m) and brick stacks. There is a brick chimney stack on the ridge, roughly mid-way along, which appears to be a later insertion. There is a gable-fronted porch in the front which appears to have replaced an earlier structure projecting c. 0.2m from the house and c. 0.4m below eaves level. The house appears to be, at least partially, built of clay, as the rear wall batters internally, though some attempt has been made to straighten them. It currently has a pebble-dash render externally. According to the landowner the roof timbers are original, though the pitch of the roof is shallow and the slates probably date to the 19th century. The roof at the N end of the house is sagging. There are two large buttresses at either end of the N gable (E buttress Wth 1.49m; D 1.06m; W buttress Wth 1.79m; D 1.09m). In the N gable the french door between the buttresses at ground level is an insertion and the canted oriel window above probably dates to the 19th century. There is a lean-to shed onto the S gable. The farm buildings to the W and other associated buildings, including a free-standing toilet structure on tidal land 63m to the E, are late 18th/early 19th century in date. According to the landowner there was a quay on the river front which is not indicated on the 1st or 2nd ed. 6-inch OS map.